THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 


A  5 


HISTORICAL 


DIVERSITY 


THE  CORNFIELD  THE  DAY  AFTER  PLANTING 

Notice   the   shallow   furrows   made   by   the    furrow   openers     attached  to  the 
planter    runners 


ILLUSTRATED 


PUBLISHED  BY 

W.  T.   AINSWORTH  &   SONS 

MASON   CITY,   ILLINOIS 


PRACTICAL  CORN 
CULTURE 


Written  especially  for  the 

CORN  BELT  FARMERS 


^ 

r.^f.  'AINSWORTH 
\\ 

Actively  Engaged  in  Farming  for  Forty  Years,  and  Still  at  It. 

RALPH   M.   AINSWORTH 

Secretary  Illinois  Corn  Growers'  and  Stockmen's  Convention. 
Member  Illinois  Seed  Corn  Breeders'  Association. 


' '  Oh,  the  corn,  the  royal  corn, 
within  whose  golden  heart  there 
is  of  health  and  strength  for  all 
the  nations. ' ' 

— Ex-Governor   Oglesby. 


COPYRIGHT,  1914 

BY 
RALPH  M.  AINSWORTH 


HAMMOND   PRESS 
CHICAGO 


3  3 . 1 


PREFACE 

DURING  the  past  ten  years  great  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  cultivation  and  care  of  corn,  both  for 
seed  and  market.  During  this  time  few  books  have 
been  written  which  have  kept  up  with  this  progress.  What 
has  been  written  has  pertained  largely  to  the  attacks  of 
insect  and  fungous  pests  and  to  the  selection  and  care  of 
corn  for  seed. 

Very  little  that  would  be  of  practical  benefit  to  the  busy 
farmer  has  been  written  on  the  culture  of  corn.  We  have 
long  felt  the  need  of  such  a  book  and  have  at  length  been 
induced  by  our  friends  to  attempt  the  work  ourselves.  The 
result  is  seen  in  the  volume  now  placed  before  the  public. 

Our  aim  has  been  to  make  this  book  up-to-date  in  every 
particular  and  to  cover  the  entire  practice  of  corn  growing, 
from  the  cutting  of  the  stalks  in  the  spring  to  the  selection 
and  testing  of  the  seed  for  next  year's  crop. 

We  have  purposely  started  with  the  preparation  of  the 
seed  bed  because  we  know  that  some  readers  will  start  this 
book  and  will  not  finish  it.  If  only  a  little  is  read,  we  are 
especially  anxious  that  the  reader  get  that  part  pertaining 
to  the  growing  of  the  crop. 

The  writers  are  both  actively  engaged  in  farming  seven 
hundred  acres  of  land,  and  W.  T.  Ainsworth  has  been  growing 
corn  on  his  Cloverdale  farm  for  over  thirty-five  years. 

No  apology  is  offered  for  the  manner  in  which  the  subject 
is  treated.  The  public  must  be  the  sole  judge  as  to  whether 
the  book  is  deserving  of  commendation. 

We  do  not  claim  originality  for  all  of  our  methods  since 

3 

411611 


4  PREFACE 

many  of  our  operations  have  been  suggested  by  neighbors  and 
the  reading  of  bulletins  and  farm  papers. 

Changing  conditions,  from  year  to  year,  demand  new  and 
different  methods  of  culture.  The  farmer,  to  keep  abreast  of 
the  times,  must  be  ready  to  adopt  new  ideas.  If  any  of  us 
should  disregard  the  opinion  of  others  and  depend  solely  upon 
his  own  judgment  for  ten  years,  he  would  find  that  he  would 
be  left  far  behind  in  the  march  of  competition. 

We  wish  gratefully  to  acknowledge  the  sympathy, 
encouragement  and  suggestions  which  we  have  received  from 
farmers  in  Illinois  and  in  other  states.  To  mention  each  one 
would  be  out  of  the  question,  but  our  gratitude  for  their 
kindness  is  none  the  less  sincere. 

Such  rapid  progress  is  being  made  in  the  methods  of 
growing  farm  crops  that  this  book  will  undoubtedly  be  a  back 
number  in  less  than  five  years.  For  this  reason  it  is  our 
intention  to  rewrite  it  every  two  years.  If  the  reader  will 
send  a  return  stamped  envelope  we  shall  be  glad  to  answer 
any  questions,  in  our  power,  in  regard  to  conserving  soil 
fertility  and  the  culture  of  corn. 

"W.   T.   AND   RALPH   M.   AINSWORTH. 


SUNNY   SIDE   FARMSTEAD, 
Mason  City,  Illinois. 
January,  1914. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I.     CULTURE 

Page 

Introduction    7 

Preparing  the  Seed  Bed 12 

Planting    29 

Cultivation    48 

PART  II.     BUILDING  UP  THE  LAND 

The  Rotation  of  Farm  Crops 57 

Leguminous  Crops 68 

Stable  and  Barnyard  Manures 83 

Phosphorus  and  Limestone 90 

PART  III.     THE  SEED 

Selecting  the  Best  Ears  for  Seed 95 

The  "Ear  to  the  Row"  Breeding  Plot 105 

Drying  and  Storing  Seed  Corn 117 

Preparing  Seed  Corn  for  Planting '. 122 

Insect  Enemies  and  Plant  Diseases 129 

APPENDIX 

Letters  on  Corn  Culture  from  Practical  Farmers 140 

5 


CHAPTER   I 
INTRODUCTION 

Farmers  in  the  United  States  are  beginning  to  appreciate 
the  fact  that  they  are  not  raising  as  much  per  acre  on  their 
ground  as  do  European  farmers.  This  subject  is  being 
brought  constantly  to  their  attention  by  government  bulletins, 
the  agricultural  press,  farmers'  institutions,  etc.  The  early 
settlers  on  the  soil  found  a  virgin  fertility  which  they  did 
not  stop  to  think  would  some  day  be  exhausted;  and  they 
and  their  successors  did  little  or  nothing  to  compensate  the 
soil  for  what  they  took  out.  We  have  now  come  to  the  point 
where  the  subject  deserves  our  serious  consideration.  We 
must  not  only  recognize  the  fact,  but  must  act.  The  difference 
in  productivity,  however,  is  not  due  entirely  to  low  soil 
fertility,  but  may  be  influenced  by  culture  and  by  the  time, 
method,  and  rate  of  seeding.  Unquestionably  each  of  these 
factors  influence  the  yield  to  a  considerable  extent. 

When  crop  prices  were  low  in  the  United  States,  the 
excuse  was  often  given  that  European  farmers  could  farm 
better  because  their  farm  produce  commanded  prices  which 
made  intensive  agriculture  profitable  with  them  but  not  with 
us.  This  may  have  been  true  twenty  years  ago,  but  during 
the  last  five  years  wheat,  oats,  and  especially  corn,  have 
brought  good  prices,  in  some  cases  higher  than  the  prices 
in  Europe. 

Present  food  prices  for  farm  products  are  an  incentive  to 
better  farming;  if  they  continue  wonderful  strides  should  be 

7 


8  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

made  during  the  next  ten  years.  We  believe  present 
farm  prices  are  here  to  stay,  unless,  perchance,  they  go 
higher. 

GOOD   PRICES  FOR  FARM   CROPS 

The  last  census  shows  that  the  population  of  the'  United 
States  increases  over  twenty  per  cent  every  decade.  This 
increase  in  population  has  been  much  greater  than  the  in- 
crease in  the  available  supply  of  land.  The  demand  for  farm 
crops  has  increased  faster  than  the  supply,  with  the  result 
that  farm  crops  and  farm  lands  continue  to  bring  higher 
prices.  This  is  especially  true  of  corn  and  corn  land. 

At  least  eighty  per  cent  of  the  corn  land  in  the  corn  belt 
proper  is  now  under  cultivation.  If,  then,  we  are  to  grow 
more  corn  in  the  future,  it  will  be  necessary  to  grow  more 
bushels  to  the  acre.  More  bushels  mean  better  farming,  and 
better  farming  requires  not  only  more  thorough  and  intelli- 
gent culture  but  the  building  up  of  the  land  and  more  care- 
ful selection  of  seed. 

"While  we  are  confronted  by  depleted  soils  and  the  stern 
necessity  of  better  farming,  we  are  cheered  by  the  fact  that 
the  resulting  higher  prices  are  making  better  farming  exceed- 
ingly profitable.  Twenty  years  ago  the  farmer  was  excusable 
for  following  bonanza  methods  (we  have  excused  ourselves) 
with  corn  selling  at  fourteen  cents  per  bushel. 

From  1890  to  1895  it  was  necessary  for  the  corn  belt 
farmers  to  economize  in  every  possible  way  in  order  to  meet 
necessary  expenses,  to  say  nothing  of  buying  manure  spreaders 
and  turning  under  leguminous  crops.  Automobiles  did  not 
exist,  and  if  they  had  existed,  the  farmer  could'  not  afford 
to  own  one.  During  this  period,  careful  farmers  did  well  to 
play  even ;  while  with  the  majority  farming  was  a  losing 
game.  Crops  were  often  sold  at  a  price  which  brought  the 
farmer  less  than  their  value  as  a  fertilizer. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

Even  as  late  as  1895  the  corn  belt  farmer  did  not  worry 
much  over  the  fact  that  he  was  depleting  his  soil.  Since  the 
farmer  had  no  surplus  and  no  working  capital  his  farming 
equipment  was  inadequate.  Corn  was  not  considered  as  being 
worth  more  than  three  cultivations.  If  he  wanted  more  corn 
he  planted  more  acres.  During  this  period  of  low  prices  the 
farmer's  outlook  was  not  optimistic. 

Let  us  take  time  to  contrast  this  with  the  last  five  years 
on  the  farm. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  of  1908,  with  corn  at  sixty 
cents  on  the  farm,  prices  of  farm  crops  rose  to  a  new  high 
level;  and  if  our  memory  does  not  fail  us,  it  has  been  worth 
at  least  fifty  cents  per  bushel  (sometime  during  the  year)  for 
the  past  five  years.  At  the  date  of  this  writing,  corn  is  bring- 
ing sixty-five  cents  at  the  country  elevators.  With  hogs  and 
cattle  at  eight  cents  per  pound  there  is  surely  a  margin  of 
profit  large  enough  to  give  the  thorough  farmer  a  working 
capital,  and  a  working  capital  means  better  farming. 

INVESTING   THE   FARMERS'    SURPLUS 

With  corn  land  selling  at  $150  to  $300  per  acre,  we  believe 
that  an  investment  of  this  surplus  in  manure  spreaders  and 
in  the  growing  of  leguminous  crops  to  be  returned  to  the 
land  will  bring  greater  returns  in  dollars  and  cents  than 
the  use  of  this  money  or  credit  for  the  purchase  of  more 
acres.  There  are  indications  on  every  hand  that  farmers 
as  a  class  are  beginning  to  appreciate  this  fact  and  to  realize 
that  it  does  not  pay  to  practice  crop  rotations  that  do  not 
include  the  turning  under  of  at  least  one  leguminous  crop 
every  five  years. 

Another  good  use  to  which  this  surplus  may  be  put  is  the 
improvement  of  equipment  by  acquiring  more  horses  and 
better  implements  with  which  to  do  more  thorough  farming. 
What  is  more  pathetic  on  the  farm  than  to  see  one  man  trying 


10        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

to  do  the  work  of  two  or  three.  Our  own  experience  has 
taught  us  that  too  much  work  can  hardly  be  put  on  good  corn 
ground  when  the  crop  is  worth  from  fifty  to  sixty-five  cents 
per  bushel.  In  every  case  additional  work  with  us  has  meant 
an  increase  in  the  margin  of  profit. 

Spurred  on  by  this  we  have  gradually  increased  our  farm 
equipment  until  ^today  we  are  employing  considerably  more 
men  by  the  year  than  we  did  ten  years  ago.  Although  we 
grow  fewer  acres  of  corn  and  small  grain,  we  have  many 
more  horses  in  the  field.  This  increase  in  equipment  for  the 
purpose  of  better  farming,  (including  the  building  of  houses 
for  farm  help),  has  cost  us  several  thousand  dollars,  but 
what  are  the  results? 

In  the  first  place  we  are  building  up  our  farms  by  having 
more  time  to  haul  manure  from  town.  With  three  spreaders 
we  haul  annually  eight  hundred  tons  of  manure  from  the 
town  of  Mason  City.  (See  Chapter  VII.)  We  are  growing  on 
an  average  fifteen  bushels  of  corn  more  per  acre  than  we  did 
as  late  as  ten  years  ago.  With  better  land  to  start  with  we 
are  able  to  cut  the  stalks  and  double  disc  before  plowing, 
where  corn  follows  corn.  The  corn  is  cultivated  four  to  six 
times,  the  last  time  being  with  a  high  arch  gopher  cultivator. 
If  the  corn  is  too  thick,  it  is  thinned  and  suckered  after  the 
last  plowing.  This  sums  up  briefly  what  we  are  accomplishing 
with  our  additional  investment  in  equipment. 

We  are  sure  that  what  we  have  invested  along  the  line  of 
more  intensive  farming  has  paid  us  well  in  dollars  and  cents, 
and  still  better  in  satisfaction.  What  we  have  done  is  being 
done  by  others  and  can  be  done  by  every  land  owner  and 
farmer  in  the  corn  belt. 

What  about  the  tenant  farmer?  Many  tenant  farmers 
are  among  our  best  farmers  and  the  tenant  really  has  the 
same  opportunity  as  the  landlord  farmer,  provided  he  has 
been  given  a  long  term  lease.  A  tenant  would  be  more 


INTRODUCTION  11 

than  human  if  he  tried  to  build  up  a  farm  when  he  felt  that 
his  successor  would  reap  the  benefits  of  his  labors.  A  five- 
year  lease  with  privilege  of  renewal,  we  consider  a  good  fair 
lease  for  an  appreciative  tenant  who  has  first  been  tested  out 
on  a  one  or  two  year  lease. 

FOUR  FACTORS  DETERMINE  THE  YIELD 

Before  taking  up  the  culture  of  corn  in  detail,  let  us 
state  briefly  the  four  factors  which  enter  into  the  producing 
of  a  crop  of  corn.  They  are:  Culture,  Soil,  Seed  and 
Climate.  In  the  first  three  chapters  comprising  culture  we 
shall  ask  the  reader  to  go  with  us  into  the  fields  and  stay 
with  us  until  the  crop  is  laid  by. 

In  the  four  chapters  entitled  "Building  up  the  Land," 
we  shall  explain  the  methods  followed  by  experiment  stations 
and  the  best  farmers  in  their  efforts  to  increase  the  fertility 
of  their  farms.  In  addition  to  this,  we  give  the  results  of  our 
own  experience  with  rotations,  manure  and  fertilizers. 

The  remaining  chapters  deal  with  the  breeding,  selecting, 
drying  and  testing  of  corn  for  seed.  All  field  and  corn  illus- 
trations in  the  following  chapters  have  been  taken  on  our 
own  farms  during  the  crop  seasons  of  1912  and  1913. 


PART  I 

CULTURE 


CHAPTER   II 

PREPARING  THE  SEED  BED 

Iron-clad  rules  cannot  be  laid  down  for  preparing  a  seed 
bed  for  corn.  The  methods  suggested  in  this  chapter  have 
been  found  practical  on  our  own  farms  and  have  been  tested 
out  from  two  to  ten  years.  Our  soil  is  a  black  level  silt 
loam,  with  a  deep,  porous  subsoil  that  makes  a  natural  drain- 
age for  surface  water.  A  heavier  soil  would  need  more  rolling, 
and  a  lighter  one  would  need  less;  so  the  farmer  who  would 
benefit  from  reading  this  chapter  should  compare  each  opera- 
tion carefully  with  his  own  practice  and  not  make  a  change 
until  he  has  satisfied  himself  it  is  adapted  to  his  local  con- 
ditions. 

There  is  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  among  farmers  as 
to  the  best  method  of  preparing  a  seed  bed.  There  is  not 
this  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  constitutes  a  good  seed 
bed.  The  best  farmers  agree  that  an  ideal  seed  bed,  to  be  in 
good  physical  condition  when  the  time  comes  to  plant  corn, 
must  be  aerated  and  not  run  together.  The  soil  particles 
must  be  fine  and  free  from  lumps  or  clods.  A  maximum 
amount  of  moisture  is  conserved  in  the  subsoil  by  having 
a  shallow  dust  mulch  on  the  surface.  A  large  number  of 
weed  seeds  have  been  sprouted  and  all  that  show  on  the 
surface  have  been  killed  immediately  before  planting.  "We 

12 


PREPARING    THE   SEED   BED 


13 


try  as  nearly  as  possible  to  have  these  conditions  at  planting 
time.  Our  success  varies  with  the  season  and  the  equipment 
that  we  can  put  in  the  fields. 

The  implements  used  are  those  most  commonly  found  in 
Central  Illinois,  namely:  two-row  stalk  cutters,  single  disc 
harrows  (disc  pulverizers),  gang  and  sulky  plows,  spike  tooth 


(Courtesy  Parlln  &  Orentlorff.) 

SINGLE-EOW   STALK   CUTTEE 

harrows  and  a  corrugated  roller.  All  these  implements; 'in- 
cluding the  harrow  teeth,  should  be  as  sharp  as  the  black- 
smith can  get  them  before  spring  work  sets  in.  Five  dollars 
paid  the  blacksmith  in  getting  tools  in  shape  will  save  many 
times  that  amount  in  horseflesh,  besides  doing  a  much  better 
job  in  the  field. 


14        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

WORK  ON  GROUND  BEFORE  PLOWING 

The  stalk  cutter  should  be  the  first  implement  in  the  field 
when  corn  follows  corn.  Unless  the  fields  are  very  small,  a 
two-row  cutter  should  be  used  in  place  of  a  single  row.  In 
the  first  place,  it  gets  over  the  ground  twice  as  fast  as  a 
single  row  cutter,  and  owing  to  its  greater  weight  and  better 
balance  does  a  much  better  job.  The  two-row  cutters  have 
two  tongues  and  are  drawn  by  three  horses.  With  this  imple- 
ment a  good  fast  team  will  cut  twenty  acres  in  one  day.  All 
the  stalk  cutters  we  have  ever  tried  have  been  satisfactory; 
but  the  farmer  who  has  never  used  a  stalk  cutter  must  not 
expect  it  to  cut  every  stalk  if  the  stalk  growth  is  rank  and 
heavy. 

If  the  stalks  are  heavy  it  will  be  necessary  to  follow  with 
a  disc  harrow — either  single  or  double  discing.  Where  a  stalk 
cutter  is  followed  by  a  sharp  disc,  lapping  half  each  time,  the 
heaviest  growth  of  stalks  will  be  cut  and  the  ground  left 
level  ready  for  the  plow.  If  the  ground  is  single  disced 
after  the  cutter  it  is  advisable  to  have  the  horses  walk  on 
the  ridges.  This  cuts  down  the  ridges  and  leaves  the  ground 
fairly  level. 

For  several  years  we  dispensed  with  the  use  of  the  stalk 
cutter  in  preference  to  double  discing;  but  the  objection  to 
this  method  was  that  the  standing  stalks  continually  worried 
the  team  and  the  time  lost  would  almost  amount  to  the  time 
required  to  cut  the  stalks. 

When  practicable,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  run  the  stalk  cutter 
on  afternoons  only,  since  the  stalks  are  dryer  and  the  cutter 
does  a  much  better  job.  The  disc  will  do  nearly  as  good  a 
job  in  the  forenoon  as  it  will  in  the  afternoon. 

We  have  tried  breaking  the  stalks  before  discing,  but  the 
results  were  very  disappointing,  since  the  stalks  became  so 


PREPARING   THE   SEED   BED  15 

bunched  between  the  rows  that  the  disc,  although  very  sharp, 
would  often  ride  over  them. 

When  we  first  started,  several  years  ago,  to  cut  the  stalks 
on  ground  to  go  in  corn,  we  felt  that  the  objections  would 
almost  offset  the  advantages  to  be  gained.  The  stalks  would 
clog  under  the  planter  runners,  and  during  the  first  cultiva- 
tion many  hills  of  corn  would  be  lifted  out  by  the  cultivator 
shovels  catching  the  stalks.  This  was  due  to  following 
directly  after  the  stalk  cutter  with  the  plow  and  the  stalks 


(Courtesy  John  Deene  Plow   Co.) 

TOUE-HORSE    GANG    PLOW 
This    plow    has   two    12-inch    bottoms 

were  not  cut  up  sufficiently  to  turn  under.  During  recent 
years,  when  the  stalks  were  properly  cut  up  and  turned  under 
as  early  as  the  20th  of  April,  we  have  had  little  trouble  with 
their  bothering  during  corn  cultivation.  When  the  stalks  are 
turned  under  as  late  as  the  10th  of  May,  some  little  difficulty 
may  be  experienced  in  cultivating  the  first  time. 

The  question  is  often  asked:     Will  soil  dry    out    more 
quickly  when  the  stalks  are  turned  under?     The  answer  is, 

2 


16  PRACTICAL    CORN    CULTURE 

if  the  stalks  are  turned  under  as  early  as  the  15th  of  April, 
they  will  be  thoroughly  water-soaked  and  partially  rotted  by 
the  time  the  corn  is  cultivated  the  first  time.  Stalks  add 
some  humus  to  the  soil  the  first  year,  and  the  more  humus 
there  is  in  the  soil,  the  better  its  moisture  retaining  qualities. 

Decaying  stalks  are  very  beneficial  in  keeping  the  soil 
loose.  Loose  soil  allows  the  water  to  soak  into  the  ground 
during  a  rain.  On  the  other  hand,  hard  packed  soil  will  shed 
most  of  the  rainfall  "off,  especially  on  hilly  ground.  On 
hillsides,  plowing  stalks  under  is  an  additional  benefit  in  that 
it  prevents  washes. 

Discing  before  plowing  serves  a  three-fold  purpose.  It 
cuts  up  the  stalks,  levels  down  the  ridges,  and  pulverizes 
the  top  soil,  making  a  mulch  of  from  two  to  four  inches  in 
depth.  This  mulch  aids  greatly  in  the  re-establishing  of  capil- 
larity between  the  furrow  slice  and  the  bottom  of  the  furrow. 
Pulverizing  improves  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil  by 
cutting  up  clods  which  could  never  be  broken  after  they  had 
been  turned  under.  It  is  the  buried  clod  that  is  more  detri- 
mental than  the  one  on  top.  .  We  consider  the  disc  fully  as 
important  an  implement  on  the  farm  as  either  the  plow  or 
the  harrow.  Our  discs  are  kept  bright  and  sharp  and  are 
used  over  more  acres  than  are  the  plows.  Before  the  corn  is 
planted,  the  field  is  disced  at  least  once.  By  discing  before 
and  after  plowing  the  furrow  slice  is  pulverized  clear  through. 

IMPORTANCE   OP    GOOD   PLOWING 

Since  plowing  is  the  slowest  and  most  expensive  of  any 
single  operation  on  the  farm,  every  effort  should  be  made  to 
do  it  right.  The  furrow  should  be  straight  and  uniform  in 
width  and  depth.  The  furrow  slice  should  be  clear  cut  and 
all  of  the  dirt  moved.  This  does  not  mean  that  there  should 


PREPARING   THE   SEED   BED 


17 


be  a  complete  inversion  of  the  furrow  slice.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  heavy  sods  it  is  better  to  have  the  furrow  slice  slightly 
on  edge  since  it  will  work  up  more  easily  than  if  completely 
inverted.  I  The  ends  sought  in  plowing  are  to  alter  the  texture 
of  the  soil  and  to  bring  to  the  surface  new  soil ;  to  bury  com- 
pletely all  vegetation  and  trash  and  to  pulverize  and  aerate 
the  soil.l 

This  pulverizing  and  aerating  of  the  soil  we  consider  the 
chief  objects  of  plowing.     The  plow  may  invert  the  soil  in 


THREE -HORSE    SULKY    PLOW 

This  plow  has  one  16-inch  bottom 

the  most  perfect  manner,  but  if  the  plow  fails  to  do  the 
greater  part  of  the  pulverizing  of  the  soil  as  well,  and  leaves 
it  in  such  condition  that  the  disc  and  harrow  cannot  finish 
the  work  in  the  cheapest  and  best  manner,  it  is  failing  to 
accomplish  its  principal  function. 

This  pulverizing  of  the  furrow  slice  is  done  largely  by  the 
twist  of  the  moldboard.  For  that  reason  a  moldboard  having 
a  medium  twist  should  be  used.  At  present  we  are  using  four 


18        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

standard  makes  of  gang  plows  on  our  farms,  and  the  one 
with  the  shortest  twist  is  doing  the  best  work.  "We  cannot 
see  but  that  it  pulls  as  easy  as  the  others.  Since  we  have 
never  tested  out  the  drafts  of  different  twists  of  moldboards 
we  will  quote  from  Prof.  Roberts  as  follows: 

"About  35%  of  the  power  necessary  to  plow  is  used  up  by 
the  friction  due  to  the  weight  of  the  plow,  and  55%  by  the 
severing  of  the  furrow  slice  and  the  friction  of  the  landside. 
If,  after  having  done  nine-tenths  of  the  work,  the  plow  allows 
the  furrow  slice  to  escape  without  the  greatest  possible  amount 
of  disintegration,  great  loss  is  sustained  because  the  bolder 
and  more  efficient  moldboard  may  add  but  two  or  three  per 
cent  to  the  draft." 

FALL  PLOWING 

We  cannot  recommend  fall  plowing  of  ground  in  Central 
Illinois,  except  in  the  case  of  heavy  sods  which  require  the 
erosion  during  the  winter  months  to  disintegrate  the  soil 
sufficiently  to  work  into  a  seed  bed.  Fall  plowed  ground 
leaches  badly  unless  plowed  very  late.  Without  a  cover  of 
any  kind,  soil  will  wash  during  the  early  spring  months, 
even  on  land  that  is  considered  fairly  level.  To  fall  plow  hill- 
sides is  to  invite  the  formation  of  deep  gulleys  which  will  soon 
make  the  field  fit  only  for  pasture  land. 

There  are,  in  our  opinion,  just  two  good  reasons  for  fall 
plowing:  First,  the  work  is  done  at  the  slackest  time  of  the 
year  when  both  men  and  teams  might  otherwise  be  idle. 
Secondly,  if  the  plowing  is  done  late,  it  affords  a  splendid 
opportunity  to  kill  cutworms  and  other  insects  while  they 
are  lying  dormant  in  their  winter  quarters.  During  the  last 
five  years  we  have  fall  plowed  about  ten  per  cent  of  our  corn 
ground  and  have  winter  plowed  about  five  per  cent.  We 
do  not  hesitate  to  plow  clover  sod  in  the  winter  time  if  the 


PREPARING   THE   SEED   BED 


19 


ground  is  not  too  wet.  In  this  latitude  there  is  only  about 
one  winter  in  four  when  plowing  is  possible  because  of  the 
frost. 

SPRING  PLOWING 

Fields  which  have  been  in  corn  the  previous  year  must, 
of  necessity,  be  plowed  in  the  spring.  Just  how  early  spring 
plowing  can  start  depends  largely  upon  the  weather  during 


(Courtesy  John  Deere  Plow  Co.) 

FULL  DISC  HAKKQW   WITH   TEUCK 
One  of  the  necessary  implements   on  the   farm 

March  and  April.  A  wet  spring  will  delay  plowing  even  on 
well  drained  fields.  So  long  as  the  furrow  slice  and  the 
particles  of  soil  run  together  rather  than  crumble,  plowing 
had  better  be  postponed,  unless  the^plowing  is  done  very  early 
in  the  spring  and  is  followed  by  several  frosts. 

There  is  no  logic  in  the  expression  that  "if  ground  is 
plowed  wet  it  should  be  worked  wet  all  summer."  Owing 
to  the  rush  of  spring  work  we  have  sometimes  plowed  ground 


20  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

when  it  was  too  wet.  The  results  have  always  been  very 
unsatisfactory,  since  a  dry  August  will  make  the  corn  fire 
much  more  quickly  than  it  would  had  the  grounjd  been  broken 
at  the  right  time.  In  plowing  stalk  ground  that  has  first 
been  disced,  it  is  well  not  to  allow  too  much  time  to  inter- 
vene between  the  two  operations.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  harrow 
each  morning  what  has  been  plowed  the  previous  day.  Time 
is  gained  rather  than  lost  by  this  practice  since  the  plowed 
ground  must  be  harrowed  and  disced  several  times  before  a 
satisfactory  seed  bed  can  be  made.  An  hour 's  work  on  freshly 
plowed  ground  will  do  more  toward  making  this  seed  bed 
than  can  be  accomplished  in  two  hours'  time  after  the  wind 
has  been  allowed  to  dry  out  the  surface. 

Another  good  reason  for  keeping  plowed  ground  harrowed 
is  to  conserve  the  moisture.  One  man  and  four  horses  with 
a  120-tooth  harrow  Will  get  over  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five 
acres  in  one  day.  This  will  prevent  the  escape  of  more  mois- 
ture and  consequently  will  grow  more  bushels  of  corn  than 
if  an  additional  five  acres  had  been  plowed  and  the  moisture 
allowed  to  escape  from  the  thirty  acres. 

The  argument  is  often  advanced  that  spring  plowed  ground 
should  not  be  worked  down  until  the  time  to  plant  the  corn 
since  beating  rains  would  n|£ke  the  soil  too  compact.  This 
idea  is  wrong.  If  hard  rains  do  come  and  pack  the  soil,  an 
almost  ideal  seed  bed  can  be  secured  by  single  or  double 
discing.  If  the  looked  for  rains  do  not  come,  the  farmer  who 
has  worked  his  ground  as  he  went  along  may  have  a  seed  bed 
when  it  would  be  impossible,  even  with  double  the  work,  to 
make  one  where  the  grqacd  had  been  allowed  to  lie  until 
planting  time. 

Every  effort  should  be  made  to  get  the  fields  all  plowed 
and  harrowed  down  before  the  weeds  have  an  opportunity 
to  grow  up  in  the  stalk  fields.  A  growth  of  weeds  before 


PREPARING    THE   SEED   BED 


21 


plowing  is  injurious  to  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil,  since 
it  makes  it  compact  and  allows  a  rapid  evaporation  of  mois- 
ture. When  the  weeds  are  turned  under  later  in  the  spring, 
they  destroy  the  capillarity  between  the  furrow  slice  and  the 
bottom  of  the  furrow. 

The  necessity  for  cutting  stalks,  discing,  plowing  and  har- 
rowing the  corn  ground — all  within  a  short  period  of  three 


A  N  S  F I  E  l_D^,O  H  I O  ,  U-S.  A. 


FULL    DISC    HAEEOW    WITHOUT    TEUCK 
A  popular  disc  in  Illinois 

or  four  weeks — has  brought  about  what  the  farmer  calls  "the 
rush  of  spring  work,"  but  there  is  no  way  to  get  around  it 
if  one  expects  to  do  good  farming. 

A  great  many  agricultural  writers  (not  many  of  them 
active  farmers,  however)  advocate  eight  hours  as  being  all 
a  man  and  team  should  be  made  to  stand  in  the  field.  This 
may  be  all  right  from  an  ethical  standpoint ;  but  every  farmer 


22  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

knows  that  it  is  impossible  to  hire  extra  men  and  teams  on 
short  notice.  When  "rainy  days  off"  are  taken  into  con- 
sideration, we  think  that  a  ten-hour  day  is  not  too  much 
to  ask  of  either  man  or  team.  Most  of  our  own  farm  help 
come  from  Kentucky,  where  they  are  accustomed  to  plow 
from  "sun  to  sun,"  and  consider  ten  hours  in  the  field  a 
short  day's  work. 

DEPTH  OF  PLOWING 

The  depth  to  which  ground  should  be  plowed  in  order  to 
give  the  best  results  must,  of  necessity,  vary  with  conditions. 
There  is,  perhaps,  no  subject  on  which  farmers  and  writers 
differ  so  widely  as  on  the  matter  of  the  depth  of  plowing. 
One  writer  says  ' '  deep  plowing  of  sandy  land  is  not  advisable, 
particularly  in  the  spring.  On  clay  land  deeper  plowing 
should  be  the  rule."  On  the  other  hand,  a  corn  lecturer  of 
national  fame  says:  "What  is  known  as  deep  plowing  is 
generally  not  advisable  in  the  corn  belt,  although  the  loose 
soils  and  bottom-lands  may  be  plowed  much  deeper  than  the 
black  prairie  soils  with  less  danger  of  bad  results."  While 
these  two  statements  are  not  altogether  contradictory,  they 
have,  at  least,  a  tendency  to  leave  the  reader  in  doubt. 

In  order  to  make  ourselves  more  clearly  understood,  we 
shall  state  that  we  consider  six  inches  and  over  deep  plowing, 
and  four  inches  and  under  shallow  plowing.  Plowing  from 
four  to  six  inches  deep  may  be  considered  as  medium  deep 
plowing. 

DEEP    PLOWING 

The  advocates  of  deep  plowing  claim  that  since  a  loose, 
porous  soil  has  a  greater  moisture  holding  capacity  than  a 
more  compact  soil,  the  deeper  the  plowing  the  more  moisture 
will  be  retained.  Deep  plowing  allows  plant  food  to  get 


PREPARING    THE   SEED   BED 


23 


deeper  into  the  soil  and  thereby  extends  the  feeding  zone  of 
the  root  system. 

Hillsides  do  not  wash  so  badly  when  plowed  deep,  since 
the  rain  can  sink  more  easily  into  the  soil  than  would  be  the 
case  if  plowed  shallow.  If  the  plowing  is  going  to  be  deeper 
than  six  inches,  it  had  best  be  done  in  the  fall  because  the 
fall  rains,  aided  by  the  freezing  and  thawing  of  winter  and 
spring,  will  re-establish  the  capillary  connection  with  the 
subsoil.  This  capillarity  is  necessary  for  a  good  seed  bed 
and  is  not  so  readily  re-established  with  deep  plowing  as 
where  the  plowing  is  shallow. 


(Courtesy  Roderick  Lean  Mfg.   Co.) 

SPIKE-TOOTH    LEVEE    HAEROW 


i  r  i 


Plowing  should  not  be  at  the  same  depth  from  year  to 
year,  since  such  a  practice  does  not  mix  the  soil  well  and  the 
pressure  of  the  plow  and  trampling  of  the  horses  will,  in 
time,  solidify  the  bottom  of  the  furrows.  Where  land  has 
been  plowed  four  or  five  inches  deep  for  a  number  of  years, 
we  know  of  nothing  that  will  make  the  farmer  more  money 
for  the  added  effort  involved  than  to  plow  such  land  six  or 
seven  inches  deep  and  break  up  the  crust. 

We  plow  from  five  to  seven  inches  deep,  depending  on 
the  time  of  the  year,  the  condition  of  the  ground,  and  what 
we  are  turning  under. 

In  fall  plowing  for  corn  we  plow  from  six  to  seven  inches, 


24        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

or  as  deep  as  the  team  can  pull  the  plow.  When  we  are 
turning  under  soy  beans,  however,  the  plowing  is  shallow 
in  order  to  allow  the  plants  to  rot  more  quickly.  This  ground 
is  plowed  deep  in  the  spring  when  the  beans  are  put  in. 

In  plowing  stalks  under  we  try  to  plow  six  inches  deep, 
if  the  ground  is  dry,  since  the  stalks  are  covered  better  than 
in  plowing  four  or  five  inches  deep.  Never  try  to  cover  stalks 
with  only  four  inches  of  soil  when  the  field  is  to  go  in 
corn.  Subsequent  cultivations  will  drag  them  out  and  they 
will  be  a  continual  source  of  annoyance  throughout  the  crop 
tending  season. 

PLOWING  SOD 

Blue-grass  sod,  or  ground  that  has  been  in  pasture  for  a 
number  of  years,  should  be  plowed  in  the  fall.  In  plowing 
blue-grass  it  is  a  good  plan  to  plow  very  shallow  in  the  fall 
and  follow  with  a  plowing  at  least  two  inches  deeper  in  the 
spring.  This  is  more  work  than  is  necessary  to  break  any 
other  sod  with  which  we  are  familiar.  If  the  sod  is  very 
tough,  a  wide  angle  moldboard  should  be  used.  This  will 
pull  more  easily  and  will  turn  the  sod  under  much  better 
than  the  general  purpose  plows  found  on  most  farms.  Clover 
and  timothy  meadows  that  constitute  a  part  of  the  short  crop 
rotations  of  the  corn  belt  seldom  become  sodded  enough  to 
necessitate  the  use  of  the  sod  plow. 

If  sod  is  plowed  in  the  spring  it  should  be  done  early. 
Wet  sod,  although  it  turns  up  slick  on  the  bottom  of  the 
furrow  slice,  will  not  bake  and  become  cloddy  because  of  the 
presence  of  such  an  abundance  of  humus.  Owing  to  the  rush 
of  farm  work  in  the  spring  every  effort  should  be  made  to  get 
the  sod  plowed  by  the  time  the  corn  stalk  land  is  in  condition 
to  work. 

In  some  cases  it  might  be  well  to  break  clover  sod  late  in 
order  to  enrich  the  land  with  the  greater  amount  of  nitrogen 


PREPARING   THE   SEED   BED  25 

stored  in  the  additional  growth  of  clover.  This  plan  is  very 
satisfactory  if  there  be  sufficient  rainfall  during  May  and 
June.  In  the  case  of  a  dry  summer,  the  clover  will  have 
already  used  up  a  large  part  of  the  moisture  stored  in  the 
soil  so  that  there  is  but  little  left  for  the  corn.  Our  own 
experience  with  early  and  late  plowed  clover  sod  showed  a 
difference  in  the  yield  of  corn  of  nearly  thirty  bushels  in 
favor  of  the  early  plowing.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1911. 
In  1911  there  was  ample  rainfall  during  May  and  the  first 
half  of  June.  As  a  result,  late  plowed  clover  sod  made  a 
good  showing.  This  year  (1913)  has  been  hot  and  dry,  and 
corn  planted  on  late  plowed  sod  has  been  almost  a  failure, 
while  some  early  spring  plowed  clover  sods  have  made  as  high 
as  seventy  bushels. 

PREPARATION  OF   PLOWED   GROUND   BEFORE  PLANTING 

An  ideal  seed  bed,  as  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter,  should  be  aerated  and  not  run  together.  At  the 
same  time,  the  soil  particles  should  be  compressed  closely 
around  the  seed  in  order  to  insure  quick  and  even  germina- 
tion. A  maximum  amount  of  moisture  should  be  conserved 
in  the  subsoil  by  having  a  shallow  dust  mulch  on  the  surface. 
Last,  but  not  least  in  importance,  a  large  number  of  weed 
seed  would  have  sprouted,  and  all  that  show  on  the  surface 
should  be  killed  immediately  before  planting.  When  the 
greater  part  of  the  weeds  are  killed  before  planting  and  the 
seed  bed  is  moist  and  free  from  clods  it  can  safely  be  said 
that  the  crop  is  half  provided  for. 

Since  the  method  of  preparing  the  seed  bed  is  determined 
largely  by  the  local  condition  of  soil  and  climate,  we  shall  not 
attempt  to  give  general  directions  for  working  the  ground 
which  might  apply  to  one  farm  but  not  to  another.  Instead, 
we  shall  outline  the  methods  followed  on  our  own  farms. 


26        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

As  we  have  stated,  each  day's  plowing  is  harrowed  the 
next  morning.  If  a  hard  rain  comes,  all  the  ground  pre- 
viously plowed  is  again  harrowed  before  proceeding  with  the 
plowing.  If  the  rainfall  is  very  heavy  and  many  weeds  have 
started,  the  ground  is  single  pulverized  in  place  of  being 
harrowed. 

This  year  we  had  no  rain  on  over  two  hundred  acres 
from  the  time  the  ground  was  plowed  until  after  the  corn 
was  planted.  This  was  a  period  of  four  weeks  without  even 
a  shower.  No  amount  of  work  could  make  an  ideal  seed 
bed  under  such  conditions.  We  did  what  we  could  to 
pulverize  the  soil  and  conserve  what  moisture  we  had.  After 
the  ground  had  been  plowed  and  harrowed  twice,  it  was  rolled 
with  a  corrugated  roller.  This  was  followed  immediately  with 
the  disc  harrows  lapping  half. 

When  the  discing  was  finished,  the  ground  was  harrowed 
cross-wise  of  the  discing.  This  harrowing  pulled  most  of 
the  clods  to  the  top.  For  this  reason  we  followed  the  harrow 
with  a  second  rolling.  The  fields  were  then  harrowed  twice 
by  lapping  half  and  followed  immediately  by  the  planter 
equipped  with  furrow  openers. 

Double  discing  is  a  slow  operation.  At  the  same  time,  it 
is  the  best  implement  we  know  with  which  to  preserve  mois- 
ture, facilitate  seed  bed  preparation,  and  hasten  decay  of 
organic  matter.  A  sharp,  bright  disc  with  the  levers  set  well 
forward  will  work  in  and  through  the  furrow  slice;  while 
smoothing  harrows  and  corrugated  rollers  work  only  the  sur- 
face. Four  good  horses  and  an  eight-foot  disc  harrow  will 
double  disc  (lapping  half  each  time  and  leaving  the  ground 
level)  forty  acres  in  five  days.  Repeated  discings,  by  keep- 
ing down  all  vegetable  growth,  will  destroy,  by  starvation  and 
exposure,  all  such  insects  as  the  corn-root  louse,  cutworms 
and  grubworms. 


PREPARING   THE   SEED   BED  27 

On  most  soils,  with  a  normal  amount  of  rainfall  in  the 
spring,  the  roller  is  not  needed  to  prepare  the  seed  bed  for 
corn.  Two  harrowings  with  a  double  discing  between,  just 
before  planting,  will  put  the  seed  bed  in  ideal  shape  three 
years  out  of  four. 

We  seldom  roll  directly  ahead  of  the  planter  and  never 
behind.  Our  experience  has  been  that  rolling  causes  the 
weeds  to  start  quickly,  which  is  not  desirable  after  the  corn 
is  planted.  Some  implement  should  precede  directly  ahead 
of  the  planter  in  order  to  get  a  last  whack  at  sprouted  weed 
seeds  before  planting.  If  disc  markers  are  used,  the  driver 
of  the  planter  will  have  a  plain  mark  in  the  freshly  worked 
dirt.  The  use  of  the  disc  marker  does  away  with  the  necessity 
of  rolling  in  order  to  see  the  mark. 

HAVE   SUFFICIENT   EQUIPMENT 

We  know  by  experience  that  sufficient  time  is  not  often 
given  to  the  preparation  of  the  seed  bed  before  planting.  This 
is  due  mostly  to  having  more  ground  in  corn  than  can  properly 
be  prepared  and  tended.  In  the  corn  belt,  where  corn  is  king, 
it  takes  nearly  twice  as  many  horses  and  men  to  handle  eighty 
acres  of  corn  as  it  does  to  handle  forty  acres.  Very  often 
it  is. better  to  cut  down  the  corn  acreage  rather  than  go  to 
the  expense  of  buying  more  equipment. 

The  farmer  should  be  prepared  to  handle  his  field  work  on 
unusual  seasons  when  additional  work  is  required  to  make 
a  proper  seed  bed.  No  one  can  say  beforehand  how  much 
work  will  be  required  to  get  a  field  in  shape  for  planting. 
A  field  of  clover  sod  that  is  plowed  in  the  fall  can  sometimes 
be  put  in  good  shape  with  a  single  discing  and  one  or  two 
harrowings.  It  is  usually  better,  however,  to  double  disc  if 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  the  ground  is  left  level. 


28        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

An  example  of  a  field  that  required  a  great  deal  of  work 
was  a  blue-grass  sod  that  we  plowed  shallow  in  the  fall.  This 
field  was  double  pulverized  twice,  harrowed  three  times  and 
rolled  once — and  then  was  not  in  good  shape  for  planting 
the  corn.  The  winter  was  dry  and  the  sod  did  not  rot  as 
it  usually  does.  If  this  field  could  have  been  plowed  about 
five  or  six  inches  deep  it  would  not  have  required  so  much 
work  in  the  spring.  We  know  of  a  stalk  field  where  the  stock 
were  allowed  to  run  late,  that  broke  up  so  cloddy  that  it  re- 
quired six  alternate  rollings  and  harrowings  to  make  a  seed 
bed.  Although  there  were  some  clods  left,  the  field  produced 
eighty-five  bushels  to  the  acre  and  the  farmer  was  well  paid 
for  his  thorough  work. 

Frank  Mann  sums  up  this  situation  when  he  says :  ' '  There 
is  no  way  to  get  ground  in  good  condition  except  to  work  it, 
and  the  worse  condition  it  is  in  the  more  work  is  needed." 

Some  soils  require  more  work  than  others.  Additional 
implements  can  be  purchased  on  short  notice,  but  men  and 
horses  have  to  be  arranged  for  in  advance.  One  can  never 
tell  how  much  time  one  will  have  in  which  to  prepare  ground 
in  the  spring  for  corn.  In  this  latitude  we  do  well  to  get 
our  oats  in  by  the  fifth  of  April.  If  the  weather  is  favorable 
and  the  ground  warm,  we  start  planting  corn  by  the  fifth 
of  May.  If  wet  weather  kept  us  out  of  the  field  a  week  or 
ten  days  in  April,  we  have  only  three  weeks  in  which  to 
prepare  the  corn  ground.  In  our  own  practice  we  average 
using  one  horse  for  every  eight  acres  that  we  intend  to  put 
in  corn.  Some  of  these  are  brood  mares  and  are  used  only 
during  the  preparation  of  the  seed  bed,  when  every  imple- 
ment requires  four  horses.  We  consider  this  ratio  about 
right  for  the  average  season.  Sometimes  we  could  get  along 
with  fewer  horses,  but  more  often  it  would  pay  us  to  have 
more. 


CHAPTER   III 
PLANTING 


WHEN    TO    BEGIN    PLANTING 

Since  the  most  mature  corn  is  always  the  result  of  early 
planting,  the  farmer  should  make  every  effort  to  have  his 
ground  in  shape  by  the  time  of  year  that  planting  is  generally 
begun.  Then,  if  the  ground  is  too  cold,  he  should  wait  until 
it  warms  up.  We  have  made  numerous  germination  tests 
which  have  convinced  us  that  corn  will  not  germinate  or  grow 
to  advantage  when  the  temperature  of  the  soil  is  below  sixty 
degrees.  If  the  temperature  is  below  fifty  degrees  for  a  week 
or  ten  days,  some  of  the  sprouted  grains,  although  the  seed 
is  of  the  very  best,  will  rot  in  the  ground. 

From  the  fifth  to  the  twentieth  of  May  is  considered  the 
best  time  to  plant  corn  in  Central  Illinois.  The  time  varies, 
in  any  locality,  from  one  to  two  weeks,  depending  on  the 
soil  and  the  weather.  In  the  western  part  of  Mason  County, 
which  is  very  sandy,  planting  can  safely  be  started  a  week 
or  ten  days  earlier  than  in  the  eastern  part,  where  there  is 
a  heavier  loam  which  does  not  warm  up  so  quickly  as  the 
lighter  soil. 

An  old-time  general  rule  was  to  "Plant  corn  when  the 
leaves  on  the  white  oak  tree  are  as  large  as  a  squirrel 's  foot. ' ' 
There  is  considerable  significance  in  this  fact,  as  the  oak  is 
tardy  in  showing  its  leaves  until  the  ground  has  had  its  spring 
warming.  Another  good  rule  is  to  wait  until  volunteer  corn 
has  started  to  grow  around  the  cribs  and  barns.  If  the  season 
is  very  backward  and  the  weather-man  assures  us  that  warmer 

29 


30        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

weather  is  on  the  road  it  is  sometimes  advisable  to  start  plant- 
ing even  if  the  ground  is  a  little  cold,  in  order  to  finish  before 
the  season  is  too  far  advanced.  \A.t  the  Illinois  Experiment 
Station  at  Urbana  (latitude  forty  degrees),  a  six  year's  test 
shows  the  largest  yield  to  come  from  corn  planted  May  4th  to 
9th.) 

PROPER   DEPTH   OF   PLANTING 

The  depth  of  planting,  like  the  time  of  planting,  is  governed 
to  a  considerable  extent  by  the  nature  of  the  soil  and  the 
amount  of  moisture  near  the  surface.  On  warm,  light  soil, 
corn  should  be  planted  deeper  than  where  it  is  cold  and  heavy. 
Again,  the  depth  of  planting  will  be  governed  largely  by  the 
time  of  planting.  In  early  planting,  only  the  surface  soil  is 
warm  enough  to  germinate  the  kernels.  The  subsoil  is  still 
wet  and  cold.  Later,  when  the  surface  soil  has  become 
warmer  and  dryer,  the  seed  may  be  planted  deeper. 

In  planting  corn,  the  fact  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  for 
quick  germination  plenty  of  air  and  warmth  are  just  as 
essential  as  moisture.  Nine  years  out  of  ten  there  is  enough 
moisture  in  the  soil  to  sprout  the  corn,  although  the  season 
of  1913  was  an  exception.  It  was  then  necessary  to  plant 
about  four  inches  deep  in  Central  Illinois  in  order  to  provide 
sufficient  moisture.  While  we  planted  over  four  inches  deep 
the  season  mentioned,  we  used  furrow  openers  on  the  planter 
runners  so  that  by  throwing  out  a  furrow  it  was  not  necessary 
to  cover  the  seed  with  more  than  two  inches  of  dirt.  We 
always  use  furrow  openers  on  our  planters  and  vary  the 
depth  of  the  furrow  according  to  the  condition  of  the  ground, 
but  in  no  case  do  we  cover  the  seed  with  more  than  two 
inches  of  dirt.  About  one  and  one-half  inches  over  the  seed 
seems  to  bring  the  best  results  on  our  brown  silt  prairie  soil. 

Repeated  experiments  have  proved  that  plants  cannot 
be  made  to  send  their  roots  deep  into  the  soil  by  planting  deep. 


PLANTING 


31 


If  the  object  is  to  fortify  the  plant  against  dry  weather,  it 
is  best  to  plant  the  seed  in  a  furrow  and  then  gradually 
cultivate  the  furrow  full  of  soil  as  the  plants  grow. 

In  an  experiment  at  the  Illinois  Experiment  Station,  cover- 
ing a  period  of  five  years,  corn  was  planted  at  depths  ranging 
from  one  inch  to  seven  inches.  The  greatest  yields  resulted 
from  planting  one  inch  deep. 

YIELD  IN  BUSHELS  PER  ACRE  FROM  CORN  PLANTED  AT 
DIFFERENT   DEPTHS 


Year 

DEPTH  PLANTED  IN  INCHES 

Station 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

1888.... 
1889.... 
1890.... 
1892.... 
1893.... 

Average 

109.7 
83.0 
77.8 
65.8 
51.3 

84.4 
83.0 
72.8 
64.7 
48.7 

100.8 
51.0 
70.3 
62.7 
40.7 

88.0 
87.0 
58.4 
70.3 
40.0 

73.1 
81.0 
62.3 
56.5 
33.4 

60.3 
92.0 
60.3 
58.5 
29.0 

^  Illinois 

40.5 

77.5 

71.5 

65.1 

68.8 

61.2 

60.0 

40.5 

NOTE:  The  above  table  -was  taken  from  Bulletin  No.  31  Illinois  Station. 
The  soil  at  the  experiment  station  is  a  deep  retentive  prairie  soil. 

Too  deep  planting  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception, 
especially  in  the  case  of  early  planting  when  the  ground 
is  still  cold.  We  know  of  ten  cases  where  poor  stands  are 
the  result  of  too  deep  planting  where  one  case  is  the  result 
of  too  shallow  planting.  If  it  is  necessary  to  get  the  seed 
into  the  ground,  use  furrow  openers  which  will  cover  at  a 
uniform  depth,  besides  throwing  all  the  clods  out  of  the 
furrow. 

DRILLED    CORN 

The  advantage  of  drilling  corn  is  that  one  kernel  is 
dropped  in  a  place.  Standing  singly  as  it  does,  each  plant 
has  a  fairer  chance  both-  below  and  above  the  ground  to 
develop  normally  and  produce  well.  It  requires  less  care 


32  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

to  drill  than  to  check.     This  is  especially  true  of  timber- 
land  that  is  covered  with  stumps. 

Drilled  com  is  not  so  liable  to  blow  down  in  heavy  sum- 
mer winds.  We  believe,  however,  that  this  advantage  is 
fully  offset  by  the  freer  circulation  of  air  through  fields 
planted  in  hills.  A  free  circulation  of  air  around  the  corn 


(Courtesy  John  Deere  riow  Co.) 

MODEEN  CHECK  EOWEE  PLANTEE 

PLANTING    IN    HILLS 

plants   in   August   has   a  tendency   to   prevent   firing.     We 

sometimes  drill  sod  fields  if  the  ground  is  free  from  weeds. 

Three  styles  of  modern  planters  are  used  in  planting  corn 

in  hills:    the  round  hole,  or  hill  drop,  the  cumulative  edge 

drop,  and  the  kernel  spaced  edge  drop.     All  of  these  are 

operated  with  a  wire  to  check  off  the  kernels  in  the  hills. 

Round  Hole  or  Hill  Drop:     This  is  the  least  complicated 

and  the  easiest  to  keep  in  repair  of  the  check-rower  planters. 

The  round  holes  in  the  plates  are  large  enough  to  admit  all 


PLANTING  33 

the  kernels  for  one  hill  in  each  hole.  Another  advantage  of 
this  planter  is  the  fact  that  the  hole,  being  so  large,  accom- 
modates kernels  of  varying  sizes.  This  planter  is  the  best 
for  poorly  graded  seed;  but  in. our  opinion  poorly  graded 
seed  has  no  place  in  good  farming. 

Cumulative  Edge  Drop:  The  edge  drop  planter  is  a  later 
invention  than  the  hill  drop  and  is  very  popular  in  the  Corn 
Belt,  since  by  using  uniformly  graded  seed  it  will  plant  with 
a  greater  degree  of  accuracy  than  the  older  style  hill  drop. 
This  style  of  planter  has  a  number  of  smaller  holes  around  the 
outside  edge  of  the  plate.  Each  hole  or  slot  holds  just  one 
grain  which  is  admitted  on  edge.  The  plate,  revolving  almost 
continually,  makes  a  quarter  of  one  revolution  for  each  hill 
planted.  When  the  proper  number  of  kernels  have  been 
counted  out  they  are  checked  off  by  the  check  wire.  Since 
graded  corn  varies  less  in  thickness  than  in  any  other  dimen- 
sion, it  can  easily  be  seen  that  the  edge  drop  planter  should 
plant  graded  corn  with  a  higher  degree  of  accuracy  than  the 
hill  drop  planter,  or  the  cumulative  drop  planter,  which 
take  the  kernel  flat. 

We  have  used  several  different  makes  of  cumulative  edge 
drop  planters  on  our  farms  during  the  last  fifteen  years. 
Until  recently  the  weak  point  seemed  to  be  in  the  dog  which 
causes  the  plate  to  turn  exactly  one-quarter  revolution  while 
the  planter  is  moving  from  one  wire  link  to  another.  This 
defect  has  been  overcome  and  today  an  edge  drop  planter 
with  graded  corn,  in  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  driver,  is 
almost  as  dependable  as  a  gang  plow. 

Kernel  Spaced  Checking:  A  new  method  of  planting  corn 
is  known  as  kernel  spaced  checking.  This  method  requires 
a  special  planter  which  has  been  gotten  out  in  the  last  few 
years.  In  kernel  spaced  checking  the  kernels  are  placed  at 
.the  corners  of  a  five-inch  square  or  triangle  instead  of  being 
bunched,  as  in  other  methods.  Since  each  stalk  stands  singly 


34        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

as  in  drilled  corn,  the  advocates  of  this  method  claim  for 
it  all  the  advantages  of  drilling  and  checking  without  the  dis- 
advantages of  either. 

For  the  farmer  who  plants  three  or  four  grains  in  one 
hill,  kernel  spaced  checking  would  perhaps  increase  the  yield, 
unless  there  was  more  of  a  tendency  to  sucker  than  when  the 
kernels  were  bunched.  Since  we  never  plant  more  than  two 
and  three  kernels  in  a  hill,  we  do  not  think  that  the  advan- 
tage to  be  gained,  would  justify  us  in  going  to  the  expense 
of  trying  out  this  new  method.  A  government  bulletin  by  C. 
P.  Hartley,  entitled  "A  More  Profitable  Corn  Planting 
Method,"  deals  with  the  subject  of  kernel  spaced  checking 
at  length. 

The  chief  advantage  of  planting  in  hills  is  that  the  check- 
ing enables  the  corn  to  be  cross  cultivated  and  kept  free 
from  weeds  and  the  entire  soil  surface  kept  in  good  condi- 
tion without  the  expensive  labor  of  hoeing.  Checking  has 
continued  to  grow  in  popularity  until  today  nine-tenths  of 
the  corn  in  the  Corn  Belt  is  planted  in  hills.  Experimental 
work  thus  far  conducted  indicates  that  it  makes  but  little 
difference,  so  far  as  yield  is  concerned,  whether  corn  is  grown 
in  drills  or  in  hills,  provided  the  drilled  corn  is  kept  clean. 
Our  own  experience  has  satisfied  us  that  on  average  corn 
land  checked  corn  will  outyield  drilled  corn;  while  on  rich 
blue-grass  or  alfalfa  sod,  where  as  much  as  three  grains  would 
be  planted  in  a  hill,  if  checked,  the  drilled  corn  would  make 
a  slightly  better  showing,  granting  that  clean  culture  be  main- 
tained. 

ADVANTAGES  IN  PLANTING  WITH  A  CHECK  ROWER 

Straight  rows  and  even  checking  mean  better  cultivation 
and  larger  yields.  Crooked  rows  are  usually  the  result  of 
carelessness  or  indifference,  although  the  planter  is  often 


. 

SI 


PH  ^ 
P  I 

5* 


H 


« 


o  -g 

H  s 

ffi  2 

o  ,, 

W  § 

EH  ^ 


tf  - 

O  M 

O  .5 

O  * 

5?  .2 
i— i 

EH  2 


36        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

to  blame  for  uneven  checking.  Uneven  checking  inay  be  due 
to  several  causes.  If  the  wire  is  too  tight  the  planter  checks 
too  soon ;  if  too  loose  it  checks  too  late.  To  check  true  the 
driver  should  form  the  habit  of  always  drawing  the  wire  to 
a  uniform  tightness.  While  the  slack  should  be  kept  out 
of  the  wire  the  driver  should  never  form  the  habit  of  putting 
the  point  of  the  stake  in  the  ground  and  using  it  as  a  lever 
to  tighten  the  wire.  This  practice  makes  the  wire  too  tight 
for  even  checking  besides  causing  undue  wear  on  both  the 
wire  and  planter.  If  the  planter  checks  too  soon  the  shoes 
or  runners  should  be  pulled  back.  On  all  makes  of  planters 
writh  which  we  are  familiar,  there  is  a  place  on  the  tongue, 
(where  it  is  bolted  to  the  planter),  to  make  this  adjustment. 
If  the  checking  is  only  a  trifle  "out"  it  may  be  corrected 
by  shortening  or  lengthening  the  breast  straps  by  which 
the  tongue  is  raised  or  lowered. 

Disc    FURROW    OPENERS 

Disc  furrow  openers  consist  of  small  frames  and  two  discs 
each.  The  frames  are  fastened  to  the  shoes  of  the  planter 
so  that  the  discs  are  on  each  side  of  the  runner.  The  bottom 
of  the  discs  are  from  one  to  two  inches  above  the  bottom 
of  the  runners,  depending  on  how  deep  the  corn  is  to  be 
covered.  The  purpose  of  these  discs  is  to  throw  out  a  furrow 
from  two  to  five  inches  in  depth.  The  corn  is  planted  in 
the  bottom  of  this  furrow. 

We  have  used  furrow  openers  on  nine-tenths  of  our  plant- 
ing for  over  five  years,  and  can  say  without  hesitation  that 
they  are  a  wonderful  aid  in  maintaining  clean  culture.  With 
the  aid  of  the  furrow  opener  and  the  high  arch  surface  culti- 
vator, our  cornfields  are  as  clean  at  husking  time  as  they 
were  formerly  after  the  first  plowing.  The  use  of  the  furrow 
opener  gives  us  a  chance  to  cover  all  the  weeds  in  the  hill 


PLANTING  37 

with  the  first  plowing.  By  plowing  with  high  arch  cultivators 
after  the  corn  is  from  three  to  seven  feet  high,  all  weeds 
are  killed  after  the  ground  is  shaded. 

Where  furrow  openers  are  used,  the  depth  of  the  furrow 
is  regulated  by  the  lever  which  raises  or  lowers  the  runners, 
but  in  order  to  vary  the  depth  of  planting  it  is  necessary  to 
raise  or  lower  the  discs  on  the  planter  shoes.  In  our  own 
practice  we  set  the  discs  to  throw  out  a  furrow  of  sufficient 
depth  to  remove  all  weed  sprouts  and  dry  dirt  from  the 
furrow.  To  accomplish  this  requires  a  furrow  of  from  two 
to  four  inches  deep,  depending  on  the  dryness  of  the  seed 
bed.  Those  who  have  used  furrow  openers  know  that,  being 
a  perfect  gauge,  their  use  insures  a  uniform  depth  of 
planting. 

Although  the  corn  is  planted  from  three  to  five  inches 
below  the  surface  of  the  field,  it  is  not  covered  by  much 
more  than  an  inch  of  dirt.  It  is,  however,  all  moist  soil, 
since  the  dry  dirt  has  all  been  thrown  out  by  the  discs. 

Some  plant  in  a  very  deep  furrow,  but  we  do  not  recom- 
mend this,  since  the  sub-surface  is  often  too  cold  for  quick 
germination.  After  a  hard  rain,  water  may  stand  in  the 
furrows  if  they  are  very  deep. 

There  are  some  soils  and  conditions  where  the  use  of  the 
furrow  openers  would  not  prove  practical.  On  low,  wet  land 
where  the  water  level  is  near  the  surface,  the  furrows  might 
stand  full  of  water  too  long  after  heavy  rains.  The  use  of 
furrow  openers  has  not  proved  a  success  on  very  hilly  land, 
since  the  rainfall  will  gather  in  the  furrows  and  wash  out 
the  seed. 

While  we  have  mentioned  these  objections  to  the  use  of 
furrow  openers,  the  reader  should  bear  in  mind  the  fact 
lhat  the  first  plowing  fills  up  the  furrow  and  leaves  the  ground 
level. 

NOTE:      More  will  be  said  about  furrow  openers  in  the  next  chapter. 


38  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

LISTING 

The  process  of  "Listing"  is  peculiarly  "Western,  practiced 
on  the  big  cornfields  of  Iowa,  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  other 
corn-growing  states  west  of  the  Mississippi.  In  the  western 
part  of  the  Corn  Belt,  where  there  is  generally  a  deficiency 
in  rainfall,  listing  is  undoubtedly  the  best  method  of  plant- 
ing corn. 

From  what  listing  we  have  seen  we  must  say  that  we 
prefer  the  check  rower  planter  with  furrow  openers  attached 
for  the  more  humid  parts  of  the  Corn  Belt,  since  we  believe 
the  seed  bed  can  be  better  prepared  than  is  possible  with 
listing. 

In  the  April  1st  issue  (1913)  of  the  Twentieth  Century 
Farmer,  there  appeared  an  article  by  M.  A.  Coverdell, 
entitled  "Listing,  Best  Method  of  Planting  Corn."  This 
article  is  so  clear  in  explaining  the  process  and  after  culture 
that  it  is  inserted  here  in  its  entirety : 

"By  listing  the  land  once,  letting  it  stand  a  week  or  two,  then  split- 
ting the  ridges  and  listing  again,  practically  the  same  porosity  of  soil  will 
have  been  established  as  with  stirring  and  planting  by  planter,  while 
the  crop  of  weeds  that  springs  up  between  the  two  operations  will 
be  easier  to  keep  free  of  these  pests  through  the  whole  season. 

"Lister  ridges  will  dry  off  and  permit  of  cultivation  much  quicker 
than  will  the  flat  surface  of  land  planted  to  corn  with  a  planter.  At  the 
same  time,  the  drilled  corn  in  listing,  being  deposited  at  a  greater  depth 
from  the  surface  than  that  planted  with  a  planter,  it  will  have  a  greater 
supply  of  available  moisture  at  hand,  and  thus  will  resist  a  drouth  better 
than  the  shallower  planted  corn. 

"Listed  corn  is  much  easier  to  tend  than  even  check-row  corn.  A 
good  harrowing  should  be  given  just  as  soon  after  drilling  as  possible — 
before  the  plants  are  through  the  ground  if  convenient.  This  enables 
us  to  do  the  job  quicker  than  after  the  corn  is  up  and  has  to  be 
watched  to  prevent  covering,  and  destroys  all  weed  growth,  leaving  the 
corn  a  fair  chance  to  grow,  with  no  weeds  to  smother  it  back  or  sap  the 
moisture  from  the  soil. 

"We  follow  the  harrow  with  a  land  roller,  which  crowds  con- 
siderable fine  dirt  into  the  furrow,  crushes  the  clods  and  leaves  the 
soil  in  fine  condition  for  future  cultivation.  While  we  have  secured 


PLANTING  39 

good  results  at  this  first  cultivating  with  common  fenders,  better  re- 
sults will  be  realized  if  a  box  about  three  feet  long  is  allowed  to  drag 
between  the  cultivator  shovels  for  keeping  the  clods  off  the  corn  plants. 
We  use  a  V-shaped  box,  which  allows  the  fine,  moist  dirt  to  roll  in 
behind  it  and  down  against  the  corn,  covering  the  weeds  and  nourish- 
ing the  plant  as  only  such  mellow  soil  can. 

' '  One  more  cultivation  ought  to  level  the  furrows  and  rid  the 
rows  of  all  weeds,  leaving  the  third  plowing  to  hill  the  corn  up  slightly. 
Avoid  cultivating  too  close  to  the  stalks,  rather  allowing  the  shovels  to 
run  a  short  distance  away  and  throw  the  soil  against  the  corn.  Where 
one  leaves  the  ridges  too  sharp  at  laying-by,  it  promotes  root  growth 
too  far  up  on  the  stalks;  this  ridge  washes  away  a  little  later,  and 
the  tender  lower  portions  of  the  stalk  thus  exposed  to  the  heat  of  the 
sun,  usually  so  extreme  at  this  season,  are  literally  scorched.  This  is 
sure  to  cut  down  the  yield  of  the  corn.  We  give  the  corn  a  gently 
sloping  hilling-up  at  laying  by,  and  continue  to  promote  the  dust  mulch 
by  working  between  the  rows  with  the  five-shovel  cultivator,  sometimes 
practicing  this  even  after  the  corn  is  in  tassel. 

' '  As  here  shown,  it  requires  considerably  less  labor  to  produce  corn 
where  the  land  is  listed  than  if  planted  by  the  corn  planter,  since  it 
can  be  put  in  the  ground  quicker  and  easier,  cultivated  with  less  work 
and  greater  ease,  and  will  actually  yield  more,  one  year  with  another. 
Other  advantages  that  add  materially  to  the  excellence  of  listing  are: 
The  roots  of  the  corn  are  so  deeply  set  in  the  soil  that  they  brace 
and  hold  the  stalks  in  an  upright  position,  thus  avoiding  the  damage 
£0  often  resulting  from  planted  corn  being  blown  down  by  the  wind;, 
also  making  a  field  of  listed  corn  more  agreeable  to  husk  in.  Then, 
this  same  deep-root  system  leaves  less  of  the  stalk  above  the  soil,  and 
so  lowers  the  relative  height  of  the  ear  from  the  ground,  thus  leaving 
it  where  it  can'  be  easily  and  quickly  reached  at  husking  time.  This 
advantage  can  be  appreciated  only  after  husking  the  high,  unhandy 
ears  in  a  field  that  was  planted  by  planter. 

"M.    A.    COVERDELL." 

DISTANCE  APART  OF  PLANTING 

The  distance  between  the  rows  of  corn  varies  from  as 
close  as  three  feet,  in  the  North,  to  as  far  apart  as  six  feet 
in  the  South.  The  closeness  of  the  rows  in  the  North  is  due : 
first,  to  the  fact  that  the  earlier  varieties  planted  do  not  grow 
more  than  half  as  tall  as  do  the  later  maturing  varieties  grown 
in  the  South;  secondly,  to  the  fact  that  it  is  more  difficult 
to  obtain  a  stand  in  the  extreme  northern  edge  of  the  Corn 
Belt,  which  makes  it  necessary  to  plant  closer  in  order  to 


40 

make  up  for  the  greater  number  of  missing  hills.  In  the 
Southeast,  where  there  is  as  much  as  six  feet  between  the  rows 
of  corn,  it  will  generally  be  found  that  cowpeas  are  grown 
between  the  corn  rows.  This  makes  three  feet  between  the 
row  of  corn  and  the  adjacent  row  of  peas.  It  is  advisable, 
in  most  cases,  to  have  the  corn  rows  at  least  three  feet  six 
inches  apart  in  order  to  have  plenty  of  room  to  cultivate. 
This  is  especially  true  where  heavy  draft  horses  and  riding 
cultivators  are  used. 

Most  of  the  cornfields  in  the  Corn  Belt  proper  are  planted 
in  rows  varying  from  three  feet  four  inches  to  three  feet 
eight  inches  in  width,  and  in  nearly  all  cases  a  three-foot 
six-inch  check  wire  is  used.  The  majority  of  Iowa  farmers 
plant  three  feet  six  inches  both  ways.  In  Central  Illinois 
a  large  part  of  the  corn  is  planted  three  feet  six  inches  in 
the  row  with  the  rows  three  feet  eight  inches  apart. 

NUMBER  OF  STALKS  PER  HILL 

There  is  considerable  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to 
the  proper  number  of  stalks  to  the  hill.  That  this  difference 
of  opinion  should  exist  is  only  natural  since  the  proper  number 
of  stalks  to  secure  the  largest  yield  is  determined  by  several 
conditions.  The  number  of  stalks  for  the  largest  yield  will 
depend  on  the  distance  between  the  rows,  the  latitude,  the 
variety  grown  and  the  richness  of  the  land.  One  general  rule 
is  that  where  corn  is  grown  for  the  grain,  each  plant  should 
have  sufficient  space  to  permit  its  fullest  development.  This 
is  especially  true  where  the  corn  is  being  grown  for  seed. 

The  Illinois  Experiment  Station  has  carried  on  extensive 
experiments  to  determine  what  influence  the  number  of  kernels 
per  hill  has  upon  the  yield.  The  results  are  shown  in  the 
following  tables : 


PLANTING 


41 


TABLE  1. — SUMMARY  OF  AVERAGE  YIELD    FROM  ALL  FIELDS  IN  NORTH- 
ERN   ILLINOIS;   MYRTLE,    SYCAMORE   AND   DEKALB 

Figures  indicate  actual  yields,  bushels  per  acre 


TWO     KERNELS     PER    HILL 


Distance 
between  hills, 
inches 

Number 
of  stalks 
per  acre 

Myrtle 
1904 
average 

Sycamore 
1905 
average 

DeKalb 
1906 
average 

DeKalb 
1907 
average 

General 
average 
1904,1905, 
1906,1907 

44x44 

6480 

38.5 

37.1 

51.6 

49.0 

44.1 

44x39.6 

7200 

43.6 

42.3 

52.6 

49.8 

47.1 

39.6x39.6 
36x44 

8000 

44.4 

44.1 

55.1 

51.1 

48.7 

33x44 
36x39.6 

8800 

47.3 

43.2 

60.9 

52.1 

50.9 

36x36 
33x39.6 

9680 

45.8 

47.1 

71.6 

52.1 

54.2 

33x36 

10560 

46.3 

45.8 

67.4 

57.5 

54.3 

33x33 

11520 

48.1 

37.2 

67.0 

55.8 

52.0 

THREE     KERNELS     PER    HILL 


44x44 

9720 

41.4 

43.0 

64.5 

67.3 

54.1 

44x39.6 

10800 

43.3 

41.3 

70.3 

67.8 

55.7 

39.6x39.6 
36x44 

12000 

45.2 

42.1 

66.8 

72.5 

56.7 

33x44 
36x39.6 

13200 

45.0 

44.7 

70.0 

71.1 

57.7 

36x36 
33x39.6 

14520 

43.7 

46.1 

75.0 

70.8 

58.9 

33x3i6 

15840 

45.2 

44.3 

79.2 

71.0 

59.9 

33x33 

17280 

43.3 

49.5 

73.6 

77.6 

61.0 

42 


PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


TABLE  2. — SUMMARY  OF  AVERAGE  YIELDS  FROM  ALL  FIELDS  IN  CENTRAL 
ILLINOIS;   URBANA,  SIBLEY  AND  MATTOON 

Figures  indicate  actual  yields,  bushels  per  acre 


TWO  KERNELS  PER  HILL 


Distance 
between  hills, 
inches. 

Number 
of  stalks 
per  acre. 

Urbana 
average  of 
4  years. 

Sibley 
average  of 
4  years. 

Mattoon 
1904, 
1905. 

Gen.  average 
for  three 
fields. 

44x44 

6480 

50.2 

45.5 

46.9 

47.7 

44x39.6 

7200 

51.7 

47.9 

51.0 

50.0 

39.6x39.6 
36x44 

8000 

53.8 

48.9 

54.3 

51.9 

33x44 
36x39.6 

8800 

54.8 

49.7 

55.0 

52.8 

36x36 
33x39.6 

9680 

58.5 

49.6 

56.4 

54.5 

33x3,6 

10560 

59.6 

48.9 

57.8 

55.0 

33x33 

11520 

54.9 

49.9 

60.4 

54.0 

THREE  KERNELS  PER  HILL 


44x44 

9720 

54.1 

47.9 

53.9 

51.6 

44x39.6 

10800 

54.1 

47.7 

55.7 

51.9 

39.6x39.6 
36x44 

12000 

53.8 

49.0 

56.0 

52.3 

33x44 
36x39.6 

13200 

51.8 

48.5 

56.6 

51.4 

36x36 
33x39.6 

14520 

48.6 

46.7 

54.8 

49.1 

33x3,6 

15840 

49.8 

45.5 

55.1 

49.1 

33x33 

17280 

*7.0 

42.6 

55.0 

46.8 

PLANTING 


43 


TABLE  3. — AVERAGE  YIELDS  FROM  DISTANCE  PLOTS  IN  NORTHERN  ILLI- 
NOIS ON  LAND  PRODUCING  OVER  FIFTY  BUSHELS  PER  ACRE, 
COMPARED  WITH  THOSE  FROM  LAND  PRODUCING  LESS  THAN 
FIFTY  BUSHELS 


Distance 
between  hills, 
inches. 

Number 
of  stalks 
per  acre. 

More  than 
50  bushels 
per  acre. 

Less  than 
50  bushels 
per  acre. 

TWO    KERNELS     PER    HILL 


44x44 

6480 

52.8 

40.3 

44x39.6 

7200 

54.5 

41.7 

39.6x39.6 
36x44 

8000 

55.7 

41.5 

33x44 
36x39.6 

8800 

57.3 

41.7 

36x36 
33x39.6 

9680 

60.8 

43.0 

33x3.6 

10560 

62.0 

41.7 

33x33 

11520 

62.3 

40.3 

THREE    KERNELS     PER    HILL 


44x44 

9720 

64.2 

39.9 

44x39.6 

10800 

69.4 

42.2 

39.6x39.6 
36x44 

12000 

69.4 

42.9 

33x44 
36x39.6 

13200 

67.7 

43.9 

36x36 
33x39.6 

14520 

68.4 

42.2 

33x3,6 

15840 

70.1 

42.6 

33x33 

17280 

70.1 

43.3 

44 


PRACTICAL    CORN    CULTURE 


TABLE  4. — AVERAGE  YIELDS  FROM  DISTANCE  PLOTS  IN  CENTRAL  ILLI- 
NOIS ON  LAND  PRODUCING  OVER  FIFTY  BUSHELS  PER  ACRE, 
COMPARED  WITH  THOSE  FROM  LAND  PRODUCING  LESS  THAN 
FIFTY  BUSHELS 


Distance 
between  hills, 
inches 

Number 
of  stalks 
per  acre. 

Average  yield 
Urbana,  S'ibley, 
Mattoon  fields. 

More  than  50  bu. 
per  acre. 

Less  than  50  bu. 
per  acre. 

TWO    KERNELS    PER  HILL 


44x44 

6480 

56.7 

42.8 

44x39.6 

7200 

57.5 

43.4 

39.6x39.6 
36x44 

8000 

58.1 

43.5 

33x44 
36x39.6 

8800 

59.3 

44.3 

36x36 
33x39.6 

9680 

62.4 

44.2 

33x36 

10560 

64.8 

43.1 

33x33 

11520 

63.7 

41.2 

THREE      KERNELS     PER     HILL 


44x44 

9720 

61.7 

39.7 

44x39.6 

10800 

63.6 

41.5 

39.6x39.6 
36x44 

12000 

64.1 

42.2 

33x44 
36x39.6 

13200 

62.3 

41.0 

36x36 
33x39.6 

14520 

61.9 

41.6 

33x36 

15840 

62.0 

41.1 

33x33 

17280 

63.8 

39.0 

NOTE:  The  above  tables  are  taken  from  Bulletin  No.  126,  Illinois  Ex- 
periment Station.  This  bulletin  is  by  Albert  N.  Hume.  O.  D.  Center  and 
Leonard  Hegnauer. 


PLANTING 


45 


The  conclusions  drawn  from  these  tables  show  that  in  all 
cases  but  one  the  rows  should  be  farther  apart  each  way 
where  three  kernels  are  planted  per  hill  and  closer  together 
where  just  two  kernels  are  planted  per  hill. 

The  first  two  tables  take  into  consideration  all  kinds  of 
soils,  while  the  last  two  make  a  comparison  between  strong 
land  and  thin  land.  They  show  that  the  rows  should  be 


ROLLING   AND    HARROWING   CORN   JUST    AS   IT    IS    COMING 

THROUGH  THE  GROUND 
The  corn  is  protected  from  the  harrow  teeth  by  being  planted  in  a  furrow 

closer  on  strong  land  than  on  thin  land,  or,  keeping  the  rows 
the  same  distance,  more  kernels  can  be  planted  per  hill  on 
the  stronger  land  than  on  thin  land. 

All  of  the  tables  indicate  that  in  Northern  Illinois  rows 
may  be  planted  closer  and  thicker  than  in  Central  Illinois. 


46        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

This,  as  we  have  stated  before,  is  due  to  the  smaller,  more 
early  maturing  varieties  grown  in  Northern  Illinois. 

For  a.  number  of  years  we  have  planted  in  rows  three  feet 
six  inches  apart  each  way.  Of  late  years  we  have  planted 
mostly  two  and  three  kernels  alternately  to  the  hill.  In  a 
few  instances  we  have  planted  three  kernels  for  the  earlier 
varieties.  While  our  primary  object  in  planting  only  two 
and  three  kernels  in  the  hill  is  to  secure  the  largest  number 
of  bushels  of  fine  seed  ears,  we  do  not  think  we  have  lost 
anything  in  total  yield.  "We  have  grown  as  much  as  ninety 
bushels  per  acre  on  strong  ground  when  planting  two  and 
three  kernels  to  the  hill. 


(Courtesy  O;  F.  Orndoff.) 

DISC    FUREOW    OPENER 

The  importance  of  planting  the  proper  number  of  ker- 
nels to  the  hill  is  apparent  to  every  thinking  farmer.  Since 
the  number  is  determined  by  many  varying  conditions,  it 
will  pay  every  farmer  to  make  experiments  along  this  line 
on  his  own  farm.  By  planting  in  alternate  plots  two  kernels, 
two  and  three  kernels,  and  three  kernels  per  hill,  every 
farmer  can  determine  for  himself,  in  the  course  of  two  or 


PLANTING  47 

three  years,  just  what  is  the  proper  amount  of  corn  to  plant 
per  acre  on  his  own  particular  farm. 

REPLANTING  CORN 

We  doubt  that  it  pays  to  replant  corn  when  the  stand 
is  as  good  as  seventy  per  cent.  Before  replanting  corn,  sev- 
eral things  should  be  taken  into  consideration.  The  remain- 
ing hills,  provided  clean  culture  is  maintained,  will  yield 
correspondingly  better  because  they  have  more  room  for 
fuller  development  than  had  the  stand  been  perfect.  This 
partly  makes  up  for  the  loss  sustained  by  the  missing  hills. 
If  only  the  missing  hills  are  replanted  they  will  be  shaded 
by  the  taller  surrounding  stalks,  which  causes  the  replanted 
hills  to  yield  little  or  nothing. 

If  the  stand  is  so  poor  the  field  must  be  replanted,  it  is 
best  to  single  or  double  disc  and  replant  the  whole  field 
with  the  planter.  This  plan  kills  all  weeds  and  usually 
results  in  a  perfect  stand.  Never  replant  corn  between  the 
rows  of  the  first  planting.  This  careless  method  generally 
results  in  weedy  corn.  Before  discing  up  the  first  planting, 
determine  whether  or  not  a  replanted  field  will  have  a  chance 
to  reach  maturity  with  a  normal  season.  When  it  is  necessary 
to  replant,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  plant  an  early  maturing 
variety  if  possible. 

Like  all  other  corn  growers,  we  have  found  it  necessary 
at  times  to  replant  some  fields.  In  some  cases,  however,  we 
have  replanted  and  in  the  fall  after  making  a  comparison 
with  a  few  rows  left  as  a  check,  we  found  that  the  first 
planting  yielded  more  bushels  per  acre  of  sound  corn  than 
the  last  planting.  Mistakes  like  this  incur  a  double  loss: 
First,  there  is  a  loss  in  yield,  and  secondly,  there  is  loss  in 
time  consumed,  which  is  often  the  greater  loss  of  the  two. 


CHAPTER   IV 
CULTIVATION 

We  are  still  old-fashioned  enough  to  believe  that  the  chief 
object  in  cultivating  corn  is  to  destroy  and  prevent  the  growth 
of  weeds.  A  good  crop  of  weeds  and  a  good  crop  of  corn 
are  never  grown  on  the  same  land.  Weeds  not  only  feed  on 
the  food  the  corn  should  have,  but  they  will  pump  off  the 
needed  moisture  in  time  of  drouth  and  interfere  with  the 
economical  handling  of  the  crop  at  harvest. 

Next  to  destroying  weeds,  the  object  of  cultivation  should 
be  to  conserve  the  moisture  by  stirring  the  soil  at  frequent 
intervals  in  order  to  secure  a  mulch. 

Besides  killing  weeds  and  conserving  moisture  the  culti- 
vator should  aerate,  warm,  and  loosen  the  soil  to  allow  the 
roots  to  extend  into  the  ground.  There  are  a  number  of  good 
methods  of  cultivating  corn.  Any  culture  that  keeps  the 
fields  clean  of  weeds  and  at  the  same  time  does  it  without 
pruning  the  corn  roots  may  be  considered  a  good  method, 
although  perhaps  not  so  economical  and  efficient  as  some 
others. 

HARROWING  AND  ROLLING 

Harrowing  corn  kills  millions  of  weeds  when  they  are 
most  easily  killed, — before  they  are  up.  It  prevents  the  for- 
mation of  a  crust  and,  most  important  of  all,  it  goes  over  a 
larger  area  in  a  short  space  of  time.  If  a  hard  rain  comes 
before  the  corn  is  up  we  harrow  all  that  we  have  planted 
as  soon  as  conditions  will  permit  us  to  get  on  the  field.  We 
do  this  harrowing  whether  we  are  through  planting  or  not. 

48 


CULTIVATION  49 

The  harrows  are  the  heavy  type  spike  harrows  and  are 
run  with  the  teeth  straight  down.  We  drive  the  same  way 
the  corn  is  planted.  As  stated  in  the  previous  chapter,  fur- 
row openers  are  used  on  the  planter  runners.  By  using  this 
attachment  all  the  corn  plants  are  in  a  furrow  which  protects 
them  from  the  harrow  teeth. 

If  the  field  is  cloddy,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  in  dry  sea- 
sons, the  harrow  is  preceded  by  the  roller.  This  pulverizes 
the  clods  and  prevents  the  harrow  from  dragging  them  into 
the  furrow.  The  first  planted  fields  are  often  harrowed  twice 


(Courtesy  John   Deere  Plow  Co.) 

COMBINATION   BIDING   AND   WALKING 
CULTIVATOE 

before  we  have  finished  planting  the  last.  (See  illustrations.) 
Unless  furrow  openers  have  been  used  we  do  not  advocate 
harrowing  corn  after  it  is  up.  In  some  cases  the  weeder 
might  be  an  improvement  over  the  harrow  in  cultivating 
young  corn. 

DEPTH  OP  CULTIVATION 

There  is  more  or  less  difference  of  opinion  on  this  partic- 
ular point.     The  objections  to  surface  cultivation,  when  it 


50  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

extends  over  the  entire  cultivating  season,  are  that  it  has  a 
tendency  to  pack  the  soil,  and  is  not  as  effective  as  deep 
culture  in  destroying  weeds.  The  objection  to  deep  culture, 
when  it  extends  over  the  entire  season,  is  that  it  cuts  the 
corn  roots,  thereby  decreasing  the  yield.  Both  of  these 
objections  are  undoubtedly  well  made.  "We  have  tried  sur- 
face cultivation  (with  gopher  blades)  throughout  the  three 
or  four  cultivations,  and  have  compared  it  with  deeper  cul- 
ture over  a  like  period.  "With  the  deeper  culture  the  corn 
was  cleaner  and  the  seed  bed  was  not  so  packed.  Notwith- 
standing this,  some  roots  were  cut  by  the  deeper  cultivating 
which  made  the  surface  cultivated  fields  show  about  the 
same  yield. 

We  are  thoroughly  convinced  that  any  method  of  culti- 
vation that  destroys  a  portion  of  the  corn  roots  is  disastrous 
to  the  corn  plant  and  reduces  the  yield  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  roots  destroyed.  Deep  culture  that  prunes  the 
roots  after  the  corn  is  three  feet  high  may  decrease  the  yield 
from  three  to  twenty  bushels  per  acre,  depending  on  the 
amount  of  rainfall  following.  If  a  heavy  rainfall  comes 
just  after  the  cutting  of  the  roots,  the  injury  will  be  slight, 
but  if  the  pruning  process  is  followed  by  several  weeks  of 
hot,  dry  weather  the  injury  will  be  severe.  In  our  efforts 
to  maintain  clean  culture  without  pruning  the  roots,  we  use 
shovel  plows  during  the  first  three  cultivations  and  finish 
with  a  fourth  plowing,  using  a  high  arch  surface  cultivator. 
This  plan,  of  course,  is  varied  somewhat,  depending  on  the 
season  and  the  foulness  of  the  field. 

FIRST  CULTIVATION 

We  start  plowing  the  first  field  as  soon  as  we  finish  plant- 
ing. If  the  corn  is  four  or  five  inches  high,  six-shovel  riding 
cultivators  are  used;  but  if  it  is  smaller  than  this  we  prefer 


CULTIVATION  51 

walking  shovel  plows.  Fenders  are  used  for  the  first  plowing 
and  the  shovels  are  run  from  three  to  four  inches  deep.  Since 
the  corn  is  planted  in  furrows,  the  dirt  always  meets  around 
the  hills  and  covers  all  the  small  weeds.  All  the  shovels  are 
pointed  straight  ahead  and  the  field  is  left  level  after  the 
first  plowing.  If  the  ground  has  been  packed  by  a  beating 
rain,  the  harrow  precedes  the  plow  the  first  time  over. 

By  using  furrow  openers  and  harrowing  the  corn  once 


FIRST    CULTIVATION 

The  corn   in  this  picture  is  about   four  inches  tall  and  is  being 
plowed   with    six-shovel    riding   cultivator 

or  twice  while  it  is  small,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  the  corn 
will  not  need  to  be  plowed  as  small  as  is  sometimes  necessary 
when  it  is  not  harrowed.  Before  trying  out  the  furrow  open- 
ers we  imagined  that  the  first  plowing  would  be  more  difficult 
than  where  the  hill  was  on  the  level  of  the  field ;  but  we  found 
to  our  satisfaction  that  it  was  much  easier  to  do  a  good  job 
since  it  is  not  necessary  to  plow  so  close  to  the  hill  in  order 


52  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

to  make  the  dirt  meet.  The  use  of  the  furrow  openers  helps 
the  corn  to  withstand  a  drouth  since  the  root  zone  is  devel- 
oped deeper  in  the  soil.  (See  frontispiece.) 

SECOND  CULTIVATION 

The  field  is  cross  cultivated  just  as  soon  as  we  can  get 
to  it,  and  that  is  seldom  soon  enough.  The  cultivating  is 
done  with  shovel  plows,  plowing  from  three  to  four  inches 
deep  if  the  corn  is  small  and  we  are  sure  that  we  are  not  cut- 
ting any  corn  roots.  If  the  corn  is  ten  inches  tall,  we  do 
not  plow  more  than  three  inches  deep  unless  the  field  is  foul. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  plow  as  close  to  the  hill  the  second 
time  over  in  order  to  make  the  dirt  meet  since  the  hill  is 
on  a  level  and  not  on  a  small  ridge  as  would  be  the  case 
had  furrow  openers  not  been  used. 

THIED  CULTIVATION' 

If  rains  have  formed  a  crust  on  the  ground,  the  third 
plowing  is  started  just  as  soon  as  the  last  acre  has  been 
crossed.  We  do  not  like  the  corn  to  be  more  than  eighteen 
inches  high  when  it  is  plowed  the  third  time.  Unless  we 
have  a  very  wet  season  there  are  very  few  weeds  to  kill  when 
we  start  on  the  third  cultivation.  Since  the  dirt  should  meet 
it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  turn  the  shovels  slightly  inward 
but  we  try  to  throw  up  as  small  a  ridge  as  possible.  The 
shovels  are  run  as  shallow  as  is  practicable.  This  plowing 
is  easy  and  fast  teams  often  average  as  much  as  nine  acres 
in  one  day. 

For  the  third  cultivation  the  corn  is  plowed  the  same 
way  it  is  planted.  Our  method  of  plowing  corn  the  first 
three  times  is  perhaps  the  most  common  method  used  in  the 
Corn  Belt,  excepting  that  we  seldom  stop  between  the  second 
and  third  plowings.  If  the  first  crop  of  clover  is  ready  to 


CULTIVATION  53 

be  cut  before  we  get  over  the  corn  the  third  time,  it  will  have 
to  wait  or  rot  down  and  enrich  the  land.  We  have  never  felt 
that  we  could  afford  the  price  of  weedy  corn  to  take  care 
of  hay  that  is  worth  at  least  eight  dollars  per  ton  to  let  lay 
as  a  fertilizer.  We  generally  have  time  to  put  up  enough 
hay  for  our  own  use  after  the  third  plowing  and  before 
wheat  harvest  sets  in. 


We  start  plowing  the  fourth  time  when  the  corn  is  be- 
tween three  and  four  feet  tall.  We  prefer  to  plow  it  when 
it  is  five  feet  tall,  since  the  ground  is  completely  shaded  by 
that  time.  If  this  plowing  is  not  immediately  followed  by 
a  rain,  the  corn  will  be  as  free  from  weeds  at  husking  time 
as  the  day  it  was  plowed.  Experience  has  taught  us  that 
corn  will  usually  be  weedy  in  the  fall  if  it  is  laid  by  early, 
even  though  it  is  perfectly  clean  when  it  is  laid  by.  This 
fact  alone  should  convince  any  doubtful  reader  that  there  is 
an  additional  profit  to  be  gained  by  surface  cultivation  after 
the  ground  is  shaded. 

To  facilitate  the  plowing  of  tall  corn  without  breaking 
it  down,  we  have  had  several  cultivators  (gopher  plows) 
built  up  so  as  to  have  a  clearance  of  four  feet.  We  plow  the 
same  way  with  these  plows  as  we  do  the  third  time  with  the 
shovel  plows.  (See  illustrations.) 

These  surface  cultivators  are  set  so  as  to  plow  very  shal- 
low. The  back  of  the  inside  blades  are  above  the  surface  and 
serve  merely  to  pull  the  dirt  up  to  the  hill.  We  have  arched 
neckyokes  on  the  tongues.  They  are  made  out  of  eveners 
off  of  old  walking  cultivators.  We  have  tried  crossing  the 
corn  a  second  time  for  the  fourth  cultivation,  but  it  was  not 
as  satisfactory,  since  in  pulling  through  the  small  ridges 
made  by  the  third  plowing,  some  of  the  corn  roots  would  be 
cut.  Again,  in  crossing  tall  corn  a  careless  driver  will  some- 
times cut  off  a  stalk  when  they  are  strung  out. 


54 


PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


Last  year  we  plowed  nearly  seventy  acres  with  one  of 
these  built  up  surface  plows  after  the  corn  had  started  to 
tassel  out.  One  field  yielded  ninety-four  bushels  to  the  acre. 
It  was  second-sod,  having  been  in  corn  the  previous  year. 

These  plows  do  better  work  than  mower  wheels,  or  plows 
made  to  run  between  the  rows,  because  they  do  not  cut  the 
roots  or  bruise  the  stalks.  Any  man  delights  in  running  one 
because  he  is  high  enough  to  get  the  breeze  if  there  is  any. 


(Courtesy  Tower  Cultivator  Co.) 

HIGH    AKCH    SUEFACE    CULTIVATOR 
Made  especially  for  plowing  tall  corn 

We  are  not  condemning  one-horse  implements  that  go  between 
the  rows.  Anyone  is  making  more  than  good  wages  who 
stirs  the  ground  and  conserves  the  moisture  no  matter  what 
kind  of  an  implement  he  uses.  On  account  of  this  fourth 
plowing,  usually  coming  during  wheat  harvest,  we  generally 
put  the  regular  hands  on  the  plows  and  hire  extra  help  to 
do  the  wheat  and  oat  shocking. 

Land  is  becoming  too  high  priced  in  the  Corn  Belt  for 


CULTIVATION  55 

the  farmer  to  be  satisfied  with  three  cultivations.  Some  years 
three  cultivations  are  sufficient,  but  more  often  four  or  five 
will  pay  when  corn  is  worth  from  fifty  to  sixty  cents  per> 
bushel.  The  practical  farmer  realizes  too  well  that  he  can 
hardly  expect  to  have  a  loose  mulch  between  his  corn  rows 
in  August  and  September  unless  he  works  these  rows  after 
they  are  shaded.  The  great  question  at  this  busy  season  of 
the  year  has  been  to  find  the  time  and  a  method  that  would 
not  injure  the  roots  or  break  down  the  corn. 

Our  first  built-up  cultivator  has  been  in  use  four  years. 
It  was  raised  sixteen  inches  at  a  cost  of  three  dollars.  The 
work  was  done  by  the  local  blacksmith.  We  believe  this  was 
the  first  cultivator  made  to  plow  tall  corn  that  straddled  the 
row.  Our  new  cultivators  are  more  satisfactory  since  they 
were  built  up  at  the  factory.  There  was  no  additional  charge 
made  for  this  and  they  can  be  used  as  low  cultivators.  A 
disc  cultivator  built  up  to  plow  tall  corn  might  be  an  im- 
provement over  the  gophers  for  some  sections. 

ADDITIONAL  BEADING  ON  CORN  CULTURE 

The  Farmers  Review.  March  15,  1913.  "Some  Corn  Expe- 
rience." A.  W.  Sarty. 

Twentieth  Century  Farmer.  February  22,  1913.  "Han- 
dling Soil  for  Production." 

The  Breeders'  Gazette.  May  7,  1913.  "Seed  Bed  a  Factor 
in  Corn  Fields."  J.  C.  Hackleman. 

Prairie  Farmer.  April  1,  1913.  "Getting  Ready  for  the 
Corn  Crop."  W.  T.  and  Ralph  M.  Ainsworth. 

Prairie  Farmer.  May  15,  1913.  "Methods  of  Corn  Culti- 
vation for  Bumper  Yields."  Ralph  M.  Ainsworth. 

"Corn  Cultivation."    Farmers'  Bulletin  414.    C.  P.  Hartley. 

"How  to  Grow  an  Acre  of  Corn."  Farmers'  Bulletin  537. 
C.  P.  Hartley. 


56        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

"A  More  Profitable  Corn  Planting  Method."  Farmers'  Bul- 
letin 400.  C.  P.  Hartley. 

"Distance  Between  Hills."  Illinois  Bulletin  126.  Hume, 
Center  and  Hegnauer. 

"Successful  Corn  Culture."    Prof.  P.  G.  Holden. 

"Soil  Book."    Frank  I.  Mann. 

"How  to  Grow  100  Bushels  of  Corn  per  Acre  on  Worn 
Land."  Win.  C.  Smith. 

"The  Fertility  of  the  Land."     Isaac  Phillips  Roberts. 


PART    II 

BUILDING   UP    THE   LAND 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  ROTATION  OF  FARM  CROPS 

The  rotation  of  crops  is  one  of  the  best  established  prin- 
ciples of  modern  agricultural  science;  also,  one  of  the  most 
important. 

It  would  seem  that  the  early  settlers  on  the  rich  virgin 
prairies  of  the  Central  "West  gave  little  or  no  thought  to  the 
possibility  that  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the  land  would  ever 
be  exhausted.  Crop  after  crop  of  corn  planted  on  the  same 
fields  for  many  seasons  in  succession  did  not,  for  a  long  time, 
diminish  the  yield. 

After  fifteen  or  twenty  years  of  such  cultivation,  the  lands 
failed  to  respond  as  at  first.  Yields  fell  off  and  lands  that 
formerly  produced  from  sixty  to  seventy  bushels  of  corn  per 
acre  dropped  in  yields  to  as  low  as  twenty-five  and  thirty 
bushels  per  acre.  Insects  began  to  multiply  in  alarming  num- 
bers and  attacked  crops.  The  land  also  became  "corn  sick" 
and  in  times  of  drouth,  corn  fired  from  lack  of  moisture. 

More  progressive  farmers  began  to  see  that  the  growing 
of  corn  year  after  year  on  the  same  land  was  a  losing  game, 
so  short  rotations  of  corn  and  oats  were  tried.  These  rota- 
tions, while  giving  increased  yields  for  a  time,  were  soon 
found  to  be  lacking  since  the  soil  continued  to  grow  less 

57 


58  PRACTICAL    CORN    CULTURE 

productive.  About  thirty  years  ago  clover  began  to  find  a 
place  in  the  Corn  Belt  rotation.  The  benefits  resulting  from 
growing  this  legume  were  very  marked,  especially  when  it 
was  grown  for  the  first  time.  At  the  present  time  nine-tenths 
of  the  corn  land  is  so  deficient  in  nitrogen  and  humus,  that 
a  rotation  containing  at  least  one  leguminous  crop  is  not  only 
profitable  but  necessary. 

Today  a  rotation  of  crops  will  be  found  on  all  the  farms 
of  the  Corn  Belt.  To  be  sure,  this  rotation  varies  from  an 
intelligent,  scientific  changing  about  of  farm  crops,  in  which 
the  requirements  of  the  soil  are  always  kept  in  mind,  to  the 
haphazard  rotations  which  still  prevail  on  many  of  the  Corn 
Belt  farms. 

We  are  learning  facts  about  our  soil  today  that  the  eastern 
states  learned  to  their  regret  twenty  and  thirty  years  ago 
and  even  longer,  that  it  is  an  expensive  and  tedious  process 
to  restore  fertility  to  land  after  it  has  been  exhausted  by  the 
continuous  growing  of  corn  year  after  year.  Twenty  years 
hence  the  wheat  belt  farmers  of  the  northwest  will  be  con- 
fronted with  the  serious  task  of  restoring  worn-out  wheat 
lands.  It  seems  that  the  older  fields  of  a  community  must 
first  become  so  deficient  in  plant  food  that  it  no  longer  pays 
to  grow  the  money  crop  of  the  country  before  that  com- 
munity will  adopt  a  rotation  of  crops  that  will  in  any  way 
build  up  the  land.  The  farmers  of  this  country  have  been 
slow  to  adopt  good  rotations.  They  have  waited  until  they 
were  driven  to  it  by  necessity.  We  are,  however,  optimistic. 
We  feel  sure  that  through  intelligent  management  thousands 
of  farms  in  Illinois  are  more  fertile  today  than  they  were 
five  years  ago.  On  the  other  hand  tens  of  thousands  are 
becoming  less  fertile.  We  believe,  though,  the  time  is  not 
far  off  when  the  turning  point  will  be  reached  in  Illinois 
and  that  farms  will  gradually  become  more  productive  in- 
stead of  becoming  less  productive,  as  they  are  today. 


THE   ROTATION   OF   FARM   CROPS  59 

Higher  prices  for  farm  crops  have  made  the  building  up 
of  worn-out  farms  very  profitable.  Better  still,  higher  prices, 
by  increasing  the  farmer's  surplus,  are  making  this  restora- 
tion possible  as  well  as  advantageous  for  the  average  farmer. 
If  a  farmer  realizes  that  he  is  farming  his  land  to  its  ultimate 
ruin  he  is  still  unable  to  make  much  of  an  advance  along  the 
line  of  soil  conservation  if  he  has  only  enough  each  year 
upon  which  to  live. 

The  city  man  who  is  complaining  about  the  high  cost  of 
foodstuffs  should  be  made  to  realize  that  high  prices  today 
are  giving  the  farmer  an  incentive  to  do  better  farming  and 
are  giving  him  a  working  capital  with  which  to  build  up 
and  improve  his  farm.  The  present  good  prices  that  the 
farmer  is  receiving  will  do  more  than  anything  else  toward 
postponing  the  day  when  we  may  have  a  serious  food  shortage. 

Getting  back  to  rotation;  most  farmers  agree  that  con- 
tinuous corn  culture  has  no  place  in  progressive  farming. 
As  a  temporary  practice  on  rich  virgin  soils  it  may  be  all 
right, — perhaps  for  a  few  years  while  the  farm  is  being  paid 
for  and  some  of  the  comforts  are  being  accumulated  about 
the  house;  but  it  a  short-sighted  policy  for  any  other  pur- 
pose and  is  a  certain  money  loser  on  lands  which  have  been 
long  under  cultivation. 

ROTATION  KILLS  WEEDS 

Practiced  in  an  intelligent  and  systematic  manner,  crop 
rotation  will  serve  other  purposes  than  the  mere  up-building 
of  the  soil.  Chief  among  these  is  the  possibility  of  destroying 
many  troublesome  weeds,  or  at  least,  of  reducing  presence 
to  the  point  where  they  are  of  little  consequence. 

Most  weeds  thrive  better  with  some  certain  kind  of  crop. 
When  land  is  devoted  to  one  crop  continuously  for  a  number 


60        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

of  years  in  succession,  the  kind  of  weed,  or  weeds,  that  thrive 
best  with  that  particular  crop  are  given  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity to  propagate. 

There  is  no  better  way  to  check  the  growth  of  weeds  than 
to  keep  the  ground  occupied  constantly  with  growing  farm 
crops.  All  observing  readers  have  noticed  that  bare  spots  in 
a  field  become  covered  with  weeds  of  some  kind. 

Many  kinds  of  weeds  are  kept  in  check,  or  are  entirely 
destroyed,  by  growing  some  crop  like  corn  which  requires 
open  cultivation.  On  the  other  hand,  many  weeds  that  thrive 
in  open  cultivation  will  be  smothered  out  if  the  field  is  put  in 
grass  or  some  small  grain.  Most  rotations  make  it  possible  to 
have  a  growing  crop  on  the  land  all  the  time. 

Five  years  ago  we  rented  eighty  acres  adjoining  one  of 
our  farms.  Since  the  farm  was  not  cross  fenced  and  the 
previous  tenants  desired  to  pasture  their  stalk  fields  they  had 
not  sown  any  part  of  it  in  wheat  because  the  stock  in  running 
over  it  would  ruin  it.  The  rotation  for  over  ten  years  on 
this  farm  had  been  corn  three  years  and  oats  one  year,  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  other  crops.  This,  together  with  care- 
less farming,  had  caused  the  fields  to  become  badly  infested 
with  cockleburs.  These  weeds  were  so  thick  that  they  were 
a  continual  annoyance  to  the  men  and  teams  while  putting 
in  the  first  crop.  We  put  the  whole  farm  in  oats  the  first 
year,  then  in  wheat  two  years  straight.  The  result  was  that 
the  cockleburs  were  completely  destroyed.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  milkweeds,  which  had  gotten  a  bad  start,  were  also 
destroyed.  While  we  have  only  had  this  farm  five  years  it 
has  been  changed  by  crop  rotation  and  clean  culture  from  one 
of  the  foulest  to  one  of  the  cleanest  farms  in  the  county.  If 
we  were  to  follow  this  system  again  we  would  substitute  soy 
beans  for  most  of  the  oats.  One  year  with  another,  this  is 


THE   ROTATION   OF   FARM   CROPS  61 

as  good  a  money  crop  as  oats  and  has  a  big  advantage  over 
oats  since  it  is  building  up  the  land  instead  of  running  it 
down. 

ROTATION  IMPROVES  THE  PHYSICAL  CONDITION  OF  THE  SOIL 
AND  INCREASES  ITS  FERTILITY 

The  roots  of  the  different  crops  are  of  great  aid  in  pul- 
verizing (and  fining)  the  soil.  When  deep  rooted  legumes  are 
grown  in  rotation  they  utilize  and  bring  to  the  surface  plant 
food  which  lies  beyond  the  reach  of  the  short  rooted  cereals. 
When  the  roots  of  these  legumes  decay  this  nitrogenous  plant 
food  is  left  in  the  surface  soil  to  be  used  by  the  succeeding 
grain  crops. 

While  there  is  a  slight  improvement  in  the  physical  con- 
dition of  the  soil  when  different  grain  crops  alone  are  rotated, 
the  greatest  benefits  of  rotations  are  derived  from  the  legumes 
included.  For  this  reason  at  least  one  leguminous  crop 
should  be  included  in  every  crop  rotation. 

The  increase  in  the  fertility  of  the  soil  as  a  result  of  crop 
rotations  is  due  entirely  to  the  additional  nitrogen  stored  in 
the  soil  by  the  legume.  If  the  leguminous  crop  is  taken  off 
the  land  each  time  it  is  grown  it  is  doubtful  if  any  nitrogen 
is  added.  When  soy  beans  and  cowpeas  are  grown  and  the 
hay  is  taken  off  and  no  manure  is  returned  it  is  believed  that 
nitrogen  is  actually  taken  from  the  soil  rather  than  added. 
If  soy  beans  and  cowpeas  are  grown  for  the  seed,  the  straw 
should  be  returned  to  the  land  after  the  seed  has  been 
threshed  out.  Since  a  good  supply  of  nitrogen  is  essential 
for  the  profitable  growing  of  grain  crops,  and  the  only  cheap 
way  to  get  this  nitrogen  is  by  growing  legumes,  every  effort 
should  be  made  to  leave  as  much  of  the  crop  on  the  land 
as  is  possible. 

We  wish  to  say,  right  here,  that  crop  rotation  alone  will 


62  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

not  permanently  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  All 
crops  require  more  or  less  phosphorus  and  potash  as  a  part 
of  their  plant  food.  Each  year  a  drain  is  made  on  the  supply 
of  phosphorus  and  potash.  When  these  elements  of  plant 
food  are  taken  from  the  soil  they  must  be  returned  in  the 
form  of  stable  manure,  commercial  fertilizer  or  rock  phos- 
phate. No  plant  can  put  phosphorus  and  potash  in  the  soil; 
instead,  they  all  take  it  out. 

For  nearly  fifteen  years  we  have  followed  with  slight 
variation  a  rotation  consisting  of  corn  two  years,  then  oats, 
wheat  and  clover  successively.  This  is  the  popular  rotation 
in  Central  Illinois  and  is  followed  to  a  greater  or  lesser 
extent  on  nine-tenths  of  the  farms  in  this  latitude. 

Since  oats  are  a  heavy  drain  on  the  land  and  often  an 
unprofitable  crop,  we  have,  for  the  last  two  years,  substituted 
soy  beans  largely  for  oats.  Each  year  we  sow  about  100 
acres  to  soy  beans.  Before  adopting  soy  beans  this  ground 
was  sown  to  oats.  By  following  this  method  we  are  including 
two  leguminous  crops  in  the  rotation  instead  of  one. 

The  soy  bean  is  a  wonderful  crop  for  improving  the  phys- 
ical condition  of  the  soil.  An  ideal  seed  bed  for  winter 
wheat  can  be  made  on  soy  bean  fields  with  very  little  work. 
Remember  to  return  the  straw  to  the  land  if  you  wish  to 
increase  the  nitrogen  content  of  the  soil.  (More  will  be  said 
of  soy  beans  in  the  next  chapter.) 

Alfalfa  is  one  of  the  most  profitable  of  the  legume  crops 
but  it  is  not  a  good  crop  to  work  in  a  rotation.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  difficult  and  expensive  to  secure  a  good 
stand  and  when  once  secured  it  is  profitable  to  leave  the 
ground  in  alfalfa  from  three  to  five  years.  A  good  stand 
of  alfalfa  will  generally  grow  better  each  year  for  the  first 
three  years.  Alfalfa  will  grow  on  most  of  the  well  drained 
soils  of  the  Corn  Belt.  It  will  grow  on  thin  land  but  it  will 
do  much  better  on  strong  land.  That  alfalfa  will  build  up 


THE  ROTATION  OF  FARM  CROPS      63 

the  land  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  eighty  bushels  of  corn 
have  been  grown  on  alfalfa  sod  when  fifty  bushels  could  not 
be  grown  on  this  land  before  it  had  been  put  in  alfalfa. 

(We  tell  of  our  own  experience  in  growing  alfalfa  in  the 
next  chapter.) 

ROTATION  KILLS  INSECTS  AND  CHECKS  PLANT  DISEASES 

Rotation  not  only  gives  opportunity  to  improve  the  phys- 
ical condition  and  increase  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  but  it 
may  also  be  made  to  head  off  many  kinds  of  insect  enemies 
and  plant  diseases.  If  one  kind  of  crop  is  grown  year  after 
year  on  the  same  field,  its  insect  enemies  are  likely  to  multi- 
ply rapidly  since  they  are  continually  supplied  with  the  par- 
ticular kind  of  food  upon  which  they  thrive  best.  Because  of 
the  fact  that  changing  cuts  off  this  food  supply  for  a  time, 
intelligent  crop  rotation  has  been  found  ;more  effective  than 
all  other  methods  combined  in  the  economical  checking  of 
insect  and  fungous  pests.  (In  the  chapter  entitled  "Dis- 
eases and  Insects"  we  are  telling  in  detail  how  crop  rotation 
is  effectively  checking  the  corn  root  worm.) 

Crop  rotation  is  as  effective  in  checking  many  of  the 
smuts,  rust,  and  blights  as  it  is  in  checking  the  insect  pests. 
Since  the  annual  damages  to  the  crops  from  insects  alone 
amounts  to  several  millions  in  each  state,  too  much  stress  can- 
not be  laid  on  any  method  that  will  check  them.  Even  if 
crop  rotation  were  not  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  soil 
fertility  it  would  be  necessary  to  rotate  to  keep  in  check 
the  insect  pests. 

ROTATION  DISTRIBUTES  FARM  WORK 

Another  very  important  reason  for  practicing  crop  rota- 
tion is  that  it  distributes  farm  labor  evenly  over  a  long  period 
of  time.  When  a  rotation  such  as  corn,  oats,  wheat  and  clover 

5 


64 

is  followed,  there  will  be  field  work  to  be  done  that  will 
require  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  Fall  plowing  for  wheat 
is  done  during  a  slack  season  and  with  horses  and  imple- 
ments that  would  otherwise  be  idle  if  winter  wheat  was  not 
going  to  be  raised.  Two  crops  are  raised  with  the  same  farm 
equipment  that  would  be  required  to  raise  either  one.  This 
means  economy  of  production.  If  one  farmer  can  work  his 
teams  for  only  three  months  in  the  year  while  his  neighbor, 
who  follows  diversified  farming,  can  work  his  nine  months  to 
advantage,  then  the  first  farmer's  teams  cost  him  three  times 
as  much  per  day  as  do  the  teams  belonging  to  his  neighbor. 
The  greatest  advantage  to  be  gained  by  extending  farm 
operations  over  as  long  season  as  possible  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  labor  can  be  economically  employed  by  the  year.  Labor 
which  can  be  employed  by  the  year  not  only  costs  less  per 
day  but  it  is  of  superior  quality  to  labor  which  is  employed 
by  the  day  or  week.  Men  employed  steadily  take  more  inter- 
est in  their  work  and  are  better  men.  Our  own  experience 
has  taught  us  that  the  most  dependable  farm  hands  are  mar- 
ried men.  For  this  reason  we  employ  married  farm  help  by 
the  year  and  furnish  them  with  comfortable  houses  in  which 
to  live.  While  the  first  cost  of  the  married  man  is  greater 
than  single  help  with  board  furnished,  the  married  man  will 
prove  to  be  cheaper  in  the  end  and  certainly  much  more 
reliable.  We  plan  our  crop  rotations  partly  with  a  view  to 
giving  employment  throughout  the  year. 

ROTATION  LESSENS  THE  DANGER  OF  CROP  Loss 

While  corn  is  the  most  certain  money  crop  grown  in  the 
Corn  Belt,  its  yield  is  easily  cut  down  one-half  by  weather 
conditions  when  wheat,  oats  or  legumes  might  be  hurt  little 
if  any.  Crop  rotation  and  diversified  farming  make  for  more 


THE   ROTATION   OF   FARM   CROPS  65 

uniform  and  more  certain  yearly  returns.  When  corn  alone 
is  grown,  the  farmer  depends  entirely  on  the  yield  and  price 
of  his  corn  for  his  profit.  On  land  that  can  grow  several 
crops  profitably  it  is  poor  business  to  depend  entirely  on 
one  crop  for  a  profit  and  a  living. 

ROTATION   FURNISHES  A   BALANCED   RATION 
FOR  LIVE  STOCK 

It  is  necessary  to  grow  several  crops  in  order  to  have  a 
balanced  ration  for  live  stock.  Rotation  of  grain  with  legu- 
minous crops  gives  this  balanced  ration.  Corn  is  very  rich 
in  starch.  When  it  is  grown  extensively  there  is  a  tendency 
to  feed  a  ration  deficient  in  protein.  Since  there  is  a  large 
amount  of  protein  in  all  the  legumes,  the  ration  can  be  bal- 
anced by  growing  and  feeding  clover,  alfalfa,  soy  beans, 
etc.  The  first  one  hundred  pounds  of  weight  of  spring  pigs 
can  be  produced  very  cheaply  if  they  have  access  to  good 
clover  or  alfalfa  pasture.  Our  principal  profit  in  growing 
hogs  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  raised  on  clover  and 
soy  bean  pasture. 

WHAT  is  THE  BEST  CROP  ROTATION? 

This  is  the  question  that  each  farmer  will  have  to  solve 
for  himself.  Crop  rotations  should  depend  upon  the  size  of 
the  farm,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  market  demand  for  the 
different  crops  and  the  abundance  or  scarcity  of  labor. 

Again,  a  rotation  that  is  good  for  one  season  may  not 
be  the  best  for  another;  but  notwithstanding  all  this,  every 
crop  rotation  should  include  at  least  one  leguminous  crop. 

A  good  five-year  rotation,  and  one  that  will  build  up  the 
land  is, — corn  two  years,  soy  beans  one  year  (or  cowpeas), 


66        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

wheat  one  year  and  clover  one  year.  As  we  have  said  be- 
fore, the  straw  should  be  returned  to  the  land  if  the  beans  are 
hulled.  The  clover  is  often  worth  more  for  pasture  than  it 
would  be  if  allowed  to  rot  down  as  a  humus  and  fertilizer. 
If  the  clover  seed  is  hulled  the  straw  should  of  course  be 
returned  to  the  land.  If  the  clover  fields  are  not  needed 
for  pasture  it  is  a  good  plan  to  cut  the  first  crop  early  and  let 
it  lay  to  enrich  the  land.  This  early  cutting  of  the  first  crop 
will  often  double  the  yield  of  seed  in  the  second  crop. 

HUMUS 

Humus  may  be  defined  as  decaying  vegetable  matter.  It 
varies  in  composition  and  quantity  in  different  soils.  The 
productive  capacity  of  land  is  measured  largely  by  its  phys- 
ical conditions  and  the  physical  condition  depends  largely 
upon  the  amount  of  humus  and  nitrogen  in  the  soil.  When 
old  land  is  packed  and  breaks  up  cloddy  it  is  often  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  humus  has  been  exhausted.  While  the  grain 
crops  are  dependent  on  several  elements  it  is  usually  the 
supply  of  nitrogen  which  limits  the  crop  production.  All 
the  nitrogen  used  in  the  growing  of  corn  crops  is  taken  from 
the  humus  in  the  soil,  while  the  legumes  get  a  certain  amount 
from  the  air. 

Since  the  grain  crops  are  dependent  on  humus,  it  can 
readily  be  seen  that  every  effort  should  be  made  to  restore 
as  much  humus  to  the  soil  as  is  taken  out  by  the  crops  and 
the  rapid  decay  which  results  from  open  culture.  Vegetable 
or  animal  trash  of  any  kind  will  make  humus,  although  some 
kinds,  like  clover  hay,  and  stable  manure  will  make  a  great 
deal  more  than  will  straw,  corn  stalks  or  leaves. 

The  drouth-resisting  qualities  of  a  soil  depend  largely 
upon  the  amount  of  humus  in  it. 


THE    ROTATION   OF   FARM    CROPS  67 

ADDITIONAL  READING 

'Decline  in   Kansas  Acre  Yields."     By  L.   E.    Call.     The 

Orange  Judd  Farmer.     Jan.  25,  1913. 
'Soils  and  Fertilizers"   (a  book).     By  Harry  Snyder. 
'Crop  Rotations  for  Illinois  Soils."    By  Cyril  G.  Hopkins. 

Circular  No.  141  111.  Agri.  Ex.  Sta. 
'Thirty  Years  of  Crop  Rotations."     By  Cyril  G.  Hopkins. 

Bulletin  No.  125  111.  Agri.  Ex.  Sta. 
'Married  Men  Cheaper  than  Single  Help."     By  Ralph  M. 

Ainsworth.     Prairie  Farmer.     March  1,  1913. 
'The  Fertility  of  the  Land."    By  Isaac  Phillips  Roberts. 


CHAPTER   VI 
LEGUMINOUS    CEOPS 

Nitrogen  is  no  more  essential  to  the  growth  of  corn  than 
certain  other  elements  but  it  is  the  one  required  in  the  largest 
amount  and  is  the  most  easily  lost  from  the  soil.  Throughout 
the  Corn  Belt  it  is  more  often  the  lack  of  nitrogen  than  of 
any  other  element  which  limits  crop  production.  "When  this 
supply  of  nitrogen  is  low  it  must  be  restored  before  paying 
grain  crops  can  be  grown  on  the  land. 

The  object  in  growing  leguminous  crops  is  to  restore 
economically  the  nitrogen  which  has  been  used  up  by  the 
preceding  grain  crops.  Many  so-called  worn  out  soils  are 
worn  out  only  in  the  sense  that  the  humus  (decaying  vege- 
table matter)  in  them  has  been  used  up  by  the  grain  crops 
and  clean  culture  which  they  received.  "When  this  nitrogen 
and  humus  has  been  restored  by  the  growing  of  several  legu- 
minous crops,  many  farms  are  made  as  productive  as  they 
were  when  first  broken  up. 

Leguminous  crops  such  as  clover,  soy  beans,  cowpeas, 
vetches,  alfalfa,  sweet  clover,  etc.,  have  the  power  of  taking 
pure  nitrogen  from  the  air  and  storing  it  in  the  roots  through 
the  nitrogen-fixing  bacteria  in  the  root  nodules.  At  the  same 
time  it  must  be  remembered  that '  all  the  nitrogen  in  the 
legumes  is  not  stored  in  the  roots  but  that  a  considerable  part 
is  distributed  through  the  stem  and  leaves.  If,  then,  hay  is 
removed,  all  the  nitrogen  in  the  stems  and  leaves  is  also 
removed.  By  removing  all  the  soy  bean  or  cowpea  hay  it  is 
believed  that  nitrogen  is  actually  taken  from  the  soil  rather 
than  added.  It  naturally  follows  that  if  the  nitrogen  con- 

68 


LEGUMINOUS   CROPS  69 

tent  of  the  soil  is  to  be  rapidly  increased,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  nitrogen  in  the  stem  and  leaves  should  be  returned 
by  plowing  under  the  crop  or,  at  least,  by  returning  the 
straw  to  the  land  after  the  seed  has  been  removed. 

The  legumes  we  have  used  in  restoring  and  maintaining 
a  sufficient  supply  of  nitrogen  and  humus  in  the  soils  of  our 
own  farms  have  been  clover,  soy  beans,  cowpeas  and  alfalfa. 
We  have  not  used  vetches  or  sweet  clover  but  we  intend  to 
sow  eighty  acres  of  the  latter.  Our  reasons  for  giving  sweet 
clover  a  trial  will  be  mentioned  under  "The  Culture  of 
Sweet  Clover." 

CLOVER 

Clover  is  the  mainstay  legume  used  in  restoring  nitrogen 
and  humus  to  over-cropped  farms  of  the  Corn  Belt.  It  is 
well  adapted  to  the  black  prairie  soils  of  the  Corn  Belt.  It 
not  only  adds  one  more  year  to  the  rotation,  thus  resting 
the  land  from  corn  that  much  longer,  but  it  actually  enriches 
the  soil  by  adding  nitrogen.  What  is  just  as  important,  it 
makes  available  large  amounts  of  phosphorus  and  potash  in 
the  soil  by  the  decay  of  its  roots.  (The  supply  of  phos- 
phorus and  potash  in  the  soil  is  not  increased  by  growing 
legumes,  but  that  which  is  already  there  is  rendered  more 
available  by  the  acidity  of  the  clover.) 

In  field  tests  extending  over  twenty-nine  years  on  the 
black  corn  land  of  central  Illinois  the  experiment  station 
of  this  State  found  that  at  the  end  of  that  time  corn  grown 
continually  on  the  same  land  yielded  twenty-seven  bushels 
per  acre  as  an  average  for  the  last  three  years  of  the  test. 
Corn  grown  in  rotation  with  oats  yielded  forty-six  bushels 
per  acre,  while  corn  grown  in  rotation  with  oats  and  clover 
yielded  fifty-eight  bushels  per  acre  without  the  aid  of  either 
fertilizer  or  manure.  (See  Bulletin  125,  Illinois  Agricul- 


70        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

tural  Experiment  Station.)  These  results  have  been  verified 
on  thousands  of  farms  throughout  the  Corn  Belt. 

There  are  three  common  kinds  of  clover  of  general  impor- 
tance to  the  farmer.  They  are,  in  the  order  of  their  im- 
portance: the  common  red  or  June  clover,  mammoth  or 
sapling  clqver,  and  the  Swedish  or  Alsike.  The  common  red 
is  the  most  extensively  grown  of  these  varieties.  It  will  do 
well  on  most  of  the  common  prairie  soils  of  the  Corn  Belt. 
It  differs  from  the  other  two  varieties  in  that  it  gives  two 
crops  in  one  season,  either  two  crops  of  hay  or  a  crop  of 
hay  and  a  crop  of  seed. 

Alsike  will  do  well  on  any  soil  that  common  red  clover 
will  thrive  on  and  in  addition  it  will  grow  on  soils  that  are 
too  wet  for  the  common. 

Mammoth  clover  is  distinctly  the  clover  for  sandy  and 
other  poor  soils.  It  will  get  along  on  soils  too  thin  and  too 
dry  for  either  medium  or  Alsike  to  thrive  on  at  all.  This 
is  the  best  clover  for  soiling  purposes.  If  a  soil  is  very  sour 
and  lacking  in  lime,  it  will  not  grow  the  clovers  or  other 
legumes  until  these  conditions  have  been  remedied.  Two 
thousand  pounds  of  limestone  applied  about  once  in  every 
four  years  will  correct  the  acidity  in  most  soils  and  make  it, 
not  only  possible,  but  easy  to  grow  clovers  and  other  legumes. 
The  application  of  limestone  to  the  soils  of  Southern  Illinois 
has  made  possible  the  growing  of  clover  on  thousands  of  acres 
that  were  too  acid  before  the  application  of  lime  was  made. 
Clover  has  been  grown  successfully  for  years  in  central  and 
northern  Illinois  without  the  application  of  limestone,  al- 
though the  soil  would  doubtless  be  benefited  and  the  clover 
crop  helped  by  its  application. 

CULTURE 

We  always  sow  clover  in  a  nurse  crop  of  wheat  or  oats. 
This  is  not  only  the  profitable  method,  but  it  is  best  to  have 


LEGUMINOUS   CROPS  71 

the  nurse  crop  in  order  to  keep  down  the  weeds  until  the 
clover  can  get  a  start.  "We  prefer  to  seed  about  four  quarts 
of  good  seed  per  acre  on  winter  wheat  early  in  March  and 
let  the  frost  work  the  seed  into  the  ground,  or  to  sow  later 
when  the  ground  can  be  harrowed,  and  harrow  the  wheat 
immediately  after  sowing  the  clover  seed.  This  harrowing 
will  cover  the  seed  and  if  the  ground  is  not  too  wet  it  will 
benefit  the  wheat. 

If  it  is  desirable  to  seed  the  clover  with  oats,  the  clover 
may  be  seeded  at  the  same  time  the  oats  are  drilled.  When 
both  are  sown  in  one  drill  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  separate 
attachment  made  purposely  for  seeding  the  clover.  It  will 
not  do  to  mix  the  clover  with  the  oats  since  the  clover  will 
be  covered  too  deep.  Besides,  clover  seed,  being  heavy,  will 
shake  to  the  bottom  and  will  not  be  seeded  evenly.  In  gen- 
eral the  sooner  the  nurse  crop  is  gotten  off  the  clover  the 
better  it  will  be  for  it. 

Other  things  being  equal,  we  prefer  seeding  clover  with 
wheat  rather  than  oats  since  the  oats  often  grow  so  rank  as 
to  shade  the  clover  and  kill  it. 

Clover,  to  grow  well,  must  have  plenty  of  air,  moisture, 
and  warmth.  The  first  two  seem  to  be  more  important  than 
the  last,  although  young  clover  is  often  killed  if  a  warm  early 
spring  is  followed  by  severe  freezing  weather. 

Unless  clover  has  made  a  rank  growth  the  first  fall,  it 
is  not  a  good  plan  to  pasture  or  cut  it  the  first  year.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  the  fall  growth  after  the  nurse  crop  is  taken 
off  should  be  allowed  to  rot  down  and  protect  the  roots 
through  the  winter. 

SOY  BEANS 

Soy  beans  are  one  of  the  most  profitable  crops  that  can 
be  grown  on  the  farm.  This  crop  has  gained  rapidly  in  pop- 


72 

ularity  during  the  last  five  years.  It  is  almost  as  efficient  a 
soil  builder  as  clover  and  is  a  splendid  crop  for  hay.  The 
seed  sells  for  two  and  three  dollars  per  bushel  and  the  yield 
is  from  eight  to  twenty  bushels  per  acre.  On  our  own  farms 
we  are  growing  soy  beans  on  -the  ground  that  formerly  went 
in  oats. 

As  stated  in  the  chapter  on  rotation,  soy  beans  will,  one 
year  with  another,  grow  as  big  a  money  crop  as  oats  besides 
building  up  the  land  instead  of  running  it  down.  During  the 


HARVESTING  SOY  BEANS 

last  two  years,  we  have  grown  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  soy  beans  and  just  enough  oats  to  feed  our  horses.  The 
seed  was  threshed  by  the  ordinary  grain  separator  although 
a  regular  pea  or  bean  huller  would  be  more  satisfactory. 
Our  yields  have  averaged  about  ten  bushels  per  acre  and  the 
surplus  seed  sold  at  $2.50  and  $3.00  per  bushel. 

When  the  grain  separator  is  used  the  concave  teeth  should 
all  be  removed  and  the  speed  of  the  machine  reduced  to  about 
one-half  of  that  ordinarily  used  in  threshing  grain.  The  tail 


LEGUMINOUS   CROPS  73 

of  the  machine  should  also  be  lowered  to  prevent  choking. 

Culture:  Soy  beans  should  be  planted  on  the  poorest  land 
on  the  farm.  If  it  is  possible  to  do  so,  it  is  well  to  break  the 
ground  early  and  harrow  it  once,  then  leave  it  until  after 
the  corn  is  all  planted  before  working  it  in  to  a  seed  bed 
and  planting  the  beans.  It  is  not  hard  to  get  a  good  stand 
if  the  seed  is  good  and  the  seed  bed  is  moist  and  warm. 
These  last  two  conditions  are  absolutely  essential. 

The  soy  bean  is  just  as  susceptible  to  frost  as  garden 
beans.  Cold  ground  will  rot  the  seed  and  a  frost  will  kill 
the  plant  after  it  is  up.  From  the  first  to  the  middle  of 
June  is  a  good  time  to  sow  the  beans  in  central  Illinois. 
The  soy  bean  can  stand  considerable  dry  weather  after  the 
plant  has  attained  the  height  of  four  or  more  inches.  The 
seed  should  never  be  planted  in  dry  ground,  since  it  will 
swell  and  rot  unless  the  drilling  is  followed  by  an  early  rain. 
It  is  better  to  wait  until  the  rain  comes  before  beginning  to 
drill. 

The  se'ed  bed  should  be  prepared  as  for  corn  and  all 
weeds  killed  immediately  before  sowing.  "We  prefer  to  drill 
the  beans  and  use  an  ordinary  grain  drill.  We  sow  about 
one  and  one-half  bushels  and  use  all  the  holes  in  the  drill. 
If  we  get  a  good  stand  and  have  favorable  weather  the  field 
will  be  free  from  weeds,  since  the  rank  growth  will  smother 
them  out.  Good  results  have  been  secured  by  planting  less 
than  half  the  above  amount  of  seed  per  acre.  "We  drill  thick 
in  order  to  smother  out  the  weeds.  We  have  never  tried 
drilling  in  wider  rows  and  cultivating  since  our  time  at  this 
season  of  the  year  is  needed  in  the  cornfields.  With  a  good 
seed  bed,  the  seed  should  be  planted  about  three  inches  deep. 

We  have  grown  mostly  the  "Medium  Yellow"  but  this 
last  year  we  have  tried  the  "Black  Ebony"  or  "Medium 
Black"  as  it  is  sometimes  called.  For  some  reason  or  other 
the  nitrogen-gathering  nodules  on  the  roots  are  larger  than 


74  PRACTICAL    CORN    CULTURE 

on  the  "Medium  Yellow."  The  "Black  Ebony"  grows  more 
rank  and  is  about  two  weeks  later  than  the  "Medium 
Yellow." 

Inoculation:  Like  other  legumes,  soy  beans  utilize  the 
nitrogen  in  the  air  and  add  it  to  the  soil  by  means  of  root 
nodules.  These  nodules  are  caused  by  certain  bacteria.  Un- 
less they  are  present,  soy  beans  in  most  soils  will  make  but 
a  weak  growth;  many  will  turn  yellow  and  some  may  even 
die.  These  bacteria  are  present  in  most  soils  of  the  South 
but  in  the  Corn  Belt  proper,  the  bacteria  are  not  well  distrib- 
uted, which  makes  it  advisable  to  inoculate. 

Inoculation  of  a  new  field  may  be  secured  either  by  trans- 
ferring the  soil  from  a  well  inoculated  soy  bean  field  or  by 
using  some  of  the  pure  cultures  advertised.  (We  obtained 
our  first  inoculated  soil  from  the  Illinois  Experiment  Sta- 
tion at  Urbana.  The  station  sells  soil  at  fifty  cents  per  hun- 
dred pounds  and  one  hundred  pounds  is  enough  for  twenty 
acres  if  the  glue  process  is  used.) 

We  find  the  glue  process  the  most  economical  as  well  as 
the  most  effective.  The  method  consists  of  sticking  parti- 
cles of  the  inoculated  soil  to  the  beans  by  wetting  the  beans 
in  glue  water.  The  glue  water  is  made  by  dissolving  about 
three  pounds  of  glue  in  ten  gallons  of  water.  This  is  enough 
water  to  wet  fifty  bushels  of  beans.  (It  is  a  good  plan  to 
add  about  a  gallon  of  flour  paste  as  this  gives  the  glue  water 
a  little  body.)  A  layer  of  beans  about  four  inches  deep  is 
thoroughly  wet  with  the  glue  water  and  the  inoculated  soil 
is  sprinkled  over  them.  The  beans  are  then  shoveled  about 
until  particles  of  soil  are  sticking  to  all  the  beans.  Then 
another  layer  is  treated  in  a  like  manner.  The  beans  should 
be  shoveled  over  about  every  half  hour  until  they  are  dry. 
They  will  be  dry  enough  to  prevent  heating  in  two  to  four 
hours.  Do  not  try  to  drill  until  the  beans  are  dry  and  don't 


LEGUMINOUS    CROPS  75 

expose  the  beans  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  after  the  soil 
is  added.     Sunlight  will  kill  the  bacteria  in  the  soil. 

COWPEAS 

Cowpeas  and  vetches  are  the  main  leguminous  crops  for 
poor  soils.  Cowpeas  have  the  power  to  extract  plant  food 
from  land  that  is  too  poor  for  the  profitable  growing  of  such 
crops  as  clover,  alfalfa  or  even  soy  beans.  They  will  grow 
without  inoculation  on  new  land  which  is  something  that 
most  legumes  will  not  do.  The  bacteria  of  this  legume  seem 
to  be  present  in  nearly  all  soils.  While  cowpeas  will  grow 
on  most  soils  they  are  better  adapted  to  sandy  types  than  to 
heavier  black  soils.  In  other  words,  the  cowpea  will  do  for 
light  sandy  soils  what  the  soy  bean  does  for  heavier  soils. 
For  this  reason  we  have  grown  soy  beans  in  preference  to 
cowpeas  on  our  own  lands,  which  are  a  black  retentive  loam. 
The  western  part  of  Mason  County  is  quite  sandy.  On  this 
soil  cowpeas  grow  to  perfection  and  find  a  place  in  the  crop 
rotation  of  all  the  well  regulated  .farms. 

Cowpeas  are  largely  grown  in  the  Cotton  States  of  the 
South.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  one  plant  can  add  more  to 
the  agricultural  wealth  of  the  South  than  the  more  exten- 
sive growing  of  cowpeas.  A  common  practice  in  the  South 
is  to  grow  cowpeas  between  the  rows  of  corn,  thereby  enrich- 
ing the  land  and  doubling  the  value  of  the  stalk  fields  for 
pasture. 

Culture:  The  seed  bed  for  cowpeas  should  be  prepared 
in  the  same  manner  as  for  soy  beans.  While  the  seed  and 
young  plant  is  more  hardy  than  those  of  soy  beans,  good 
preparation  will  pay  big  returns.  Cowpeas  should  be  sown 
late  in  the  North,  after  all  danger  of  frost  is  over.  It  is 
best  to  double  disc  well  just  before  sowing  in  order  to  kill 
all  weeds. 


76  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

If  cowpeas  are  cut  for  hay,  the  hay  should  be  left  in  the 
cock  for  a  week,  and  longer  if  the  weather  is  not  very  dry. 
A  good  plan  is  to  let  the  hay  stay  in  the  windrow  a  day, 
before  it  is  put  in  the  cock.  Cowpea  and  soy  bean  hay  dries 
very  slowly,  because  of  the  thick  stem.  For  this  reason  it 
is  unsatisfactory  to  take  the  hay  direct  from  the  windrow 
to  the  mow  or  stack.  The  growing  of  cowpeas  or  soy  beans 
on  land  is  a  good  preparation  for  the  growing  of  alfalfa. 

VETCHES 

Vetch  has  a  very  important  place  in  the  building  up  and 
renovating  of  the  depleted  soils  of  the  East  and  Southeast. 
It  often  paves  the  way  for  successful  alfalfa  growing  on  soils 
that  are  too  poor  to  grow  alfalfa  at  the  start.  Vetch  is  not 
much  grown  on  the  black  prairie  soils  of  the  Corn  Belt.  It 
is  our  opinion  that  other  legumes  are  more  effective  than  this 
annual  in  maintaining  the  productivity  of  prairie  soils. 

Culture:  Vetch  may  be  sown  either  broadcast  or  by  drill- 
ing. Drilling  is  the  more  modern  method.  It  may  be  sown 
alone  or  with  one  of  the  small  grains  as  a  supporting  crop. 
In  the  Southern  states  a  winter  vetch  is  sown  in  the  fall, 
either  in  September  or  October.  Hairy  vetch  is  the  favorite 
in  the  North.  In  the  spring  it  may  be  sown  as  early  as  the 
ground  can  be  gotten  in  shape.  The  seed  is  sown  at  the 
rate  of  one  bushel  per  acre.  It  is  necessary  to  inoculate  some 
soils  in  order  to  grow  vetch  successfully. 

ALFALFA 

Alfalfa  is  fast  becoming  a  popular  crop  in  the  Corn  Belt. 
Its  splendid  hay  qualities  are  rapidly  pushing  it  into  public 
favor.  We  took  a  great  deal  of  pains  to  put  in  eight  acres 
of  alfalfa  and  later  results  showed  that  it  deserved  all  the 
attention  it  received.  From  this  eight  acre  field  we  cut  three 


77 


crops  of  hay  the  following  year.     The  three  crops  yielded 
better  than  five  tons  per  acre. 

The  hay  is  of  the  finest  quality  and  will  usually  sell  for 
eighteen  dollars  per  ton,  or  ninety  dollars  per  acre;  but  it 
is  not  for  sale  at  this  price.  We  feed  it  to  our  own  stock. 
After  obtaining  these  results  on  eight  acres  we  felt  justified 
in  sowing  twenty  acres  more  the  following  fall.  (The  two 
following  photographs  were  taken  in  this  eight-acre  field  the 
summer  after  the  crop  was*  put  in.)  This  was  our  first 
attempt  at  growing  alfalfa.  We  were  careful  in  the  prepa- 


ALFALFA  HAY  IN  THE  COCK.  THE  COCKS 
ABE  COVEKED  WITH  CANVAS  CAPS 

ration  of  the  seed  bed  and  followed  instructions  in  regard 
to  seeding  and  inoculation. 

We  want  to  say  right  here,  however,  that  if  alfalfa  is 
grown  at  all  it  should  be  grown  as  a  money  crop.  If  it  will 
not  average  two  tons  of  good  hay  per  acre  it  is  better,  in 
our  opinion,  to  grow  some  other  crop.  Alfalfa  is  an  expen- 
sive crop  to  put  in,  when  it  is  put  in  right  and  one  cannot 
afford  to  put  it  in  any  other  way. 

The  ground  on  which  alfalfa  is  grown  should  lay  fallow 


78 


and  should  be  worked  at  frequent  intervals  the  first  summer. 
This  means  no  returns  the  first  year.  Again,  alfalfa  can 
not  be  made  a  paying  crop  on  poor,  unproductive  soils.  Al- 
falfa ground  must  be  sweet  and  in  good  physical  condition 
if  the  returns  from  the  crop  are  to  justify  the  necessary 
expense.  Most  of  the  black  prairie  soils  of  the  Corn  Belt 
can  be  made  good  alfalfa  land  by  the  application  of  lime- 
stone to  the  soil. 

Alfalfa  should  be  made  a  money  crop  rather  than  used 


BALING  ALFALFA  HAY  ON  CLOVEEDALE  FARM 

This  field  made  over  five  tons  of  hay  per  acre,  the  year  after 
it  was  sown 

as  a  soil-building  legume.  If  alfalfa  is  grown  it  is  grown 
for  the  hay  and  large  quantities  of  phosphorus  and  potas- 
sium are  removed  from  the  soil  in  the  hay.  On  the  other 
hand  some  nitrogen  is  stored  in  the  roots  and  the  physical 
condition  of  the  soil  is  undoubtedly  improved.  In  actual 
practice,  then,  alfalfa  improves  good  land  but  cannot  be 
considered  in  connection  with  poor  land,  as  it  is  not  a 
profitable  crop  to  grow  on  unfertile  soils. 


LEGUMINOUS   CROPS  79 

Soils:  An  ideal  alfalfa  soil  is  a  deep  rich  sandy  or  clay 
loam.  Alfalfa  will  not  thrive  in  a  sour  soil.  Alfalfa  bacteria 
can  not  live  in  an  acid  soil  and  these  bacteria  are  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  successful  growing  of  the  crop.  The  appli- 
cation of  two  thousand  pounds  of  limestone  will  "sweeten" 
acid  soils  for  the  growing  of  alfalfa  and  all  farm  crops.  If 
the  soil  is  only  slightly  acid,  less  lime  will  be  necessary.  "We 
have  not  found  it  necessary  to  use  limestone  on  our  soils. 

If  the  land  is  very  flat,  it  should  be  well  drained  before 
seeding  to  alfalfa.  Superfluous  water  will  drown  out  alfalfa. 
The  soil  must  be  full  of  air  spaces  and  if  these  are  filled 
with  water  the  alfalfa  will  smother  and  turn  yellow. 

Inoculation:  Alfalfa  bacteria  are  seldom  found  in  the 
soil  east  of  the  Mississippi.  These  bacteria  must  be  arti- 
ficially supplied  before  alfalfa  can  be  profitably  grown.  Since 
sweet  clover  bacteria  and  alfalfa  bacteria  are  identical,  soil 
from  the  roadside,  where  sweet  clover  is  growing,  will  serve 
to  inoculate  the  alfalfa  field.  "We  use  a  manure  spreader  to 
scatter  inoculated  soil,  although  it  can  be  done  very  well  by 
hand.  If  sweet  clover  soil  is  not  available,  "pure  alfalfa 
culture"  can  be  obtained  from  reliable  seedmen.  This  alfalfa 
culture  is  satisfactory  though  rather  expensive. 

Preparation  of  Seed  Bed:  As  before  stated,  the  ground 
should  be  plowed  deep,  preferably  in  June.  The  ground 
should  then  be  disced  or  harrowed  every  week  or  two,  (in 
order  to  kill  all  weeds),  until  about  the  first  or  middle  of 
August,  when  it  should  be  worked  repeatedly  until  a  very 
fine  mellow  seed  bed  is  secured.  The  field  should  then  be 
inoculated  as  suggested  above  and  clean  seed,  free  from  weed 
and  other  seeds,  should  be  sown  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  pounds 
to  the  acre. 

The  seed  bed  must  be  moist  from  the  very  top  surface 
down.  We  sow  broadcast  with  a  horn  seeder  and  sow  both 
ways  to  insure  an  even  distribution.  The  seed  should  be 

6 


80        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

covered  to  a  depth  of  one-half  to  one  inch  by  a  light 
harrowing. 

We  have  never  sown  alfalfa  seed  with  a  nurse  crop  and 
are  inclined  to  believe  the  results  would  be  unsatisfactory. 
If  the  seed  was  sown  in  the  spring  it  would,  of  course,  be 
necessary  to  use  a  nurse  crop  of  some  kind  to  keep  down 
weeds  until  the  alfalfa  could  get  a  start;  but  spring  sowing 
of  alfalfa  has  not  been  so  successful  as  fall  sowing  in 
Illinois  and  Iowa. 

Alfalfa  should  be  cut  when  from  one-third  to  one-half 
the  blooms  are  out,  or  just  after  the  new  shoots  have  come 
out  at  the  base.  It  should  never  be  cut  until  after  the  new 
shoots  have  started.  To  cut  before  means  a  very  weak  suc- 
ceeding crop.  If  there  is  a  considerable  growth  in  the  fall 
it  should  be  either  pastured  or  clipped  before  winter  comes 
on.  A  light  application  of  manure  (with  a  manure  spreader), 
in  December  will  prevent  alfalfa  from  being  winter  killed. 
Remember  alfalfa,  like  corn,  is  a  good  money  crop  if  it  is 
properly  put  in  on  good  fertile  soil.  Unlike  clover,  beans 
and  peas,  it  is  not  a  rotation  crop.  If  a  good  stand  of  alfalfa 
is  secured  it  will  pay  to  leave  it  for  four  or  five  years. 

SWEET  CLOVER 

Sweet  clover  is  a  deep  rooted  legume,  and  is  found  grow- 
ing along  the  roadsides  everywhere.  No  other  legume  has 
such  a  wide  range  of  territory,  nor  will  any  other  legume 
grow  in  as  many  types  of  soil  or  under  such  varied  condi- 
tions. Because  of  its  hardy  nature  and  wonderful  adapta- 
bility it  is  considered  by  most  farmers  as  a  weed.  It  has  been 
only  in  the  last  two  years  that  farmers  have  taken  kindly 
to  sweet  clover.  The  majority  are  still  skeptical.  Many 
admit  that  it  is  a  good  nitrogen  gatherer  but  are  afraid  to 
give  it  a  place  on  their  farms  for  fear  it  will,  as  they  say, 
"take  the  farm." 


LEGUMINOUS   CROPS  81 

It  has  been  proved,  to  our  own  satisfaction  at  least,  that 
sweet  clover  will  never  be  a  troublesome  weed  on  our  farms. 
Stock  will  not  allow  it  to  start  in  the  pasture  and  it  is  as 
easily  killed  as  clover  in  a  cultivated  field. 

"We  are  so  impressed  with  the  merits  of  sweet  clover  that 
we  shall  seed  eighty  acres  to  this  legume  in  the  spring.  The 
seed  will  be  sown  with  a  nurse  crop,  either  wheat  or  oats. 

Sweet  clover,  unlike  alfalfa,  grows  so  rank  and  hardy 
from  the  start  that  it  can  be  sown  in  the  spring  without  a 
nurse  crop  and  still  keep  ahead  of  the  weeds.  By  sowing 
sweet  clover  in  the  spring  with  a  nurse  crop  of  wheat  or  oats, 
however,  the  land  will  bring  returns  the  first  year,  which 
is  not  the  case  with  fall  sowing  of  alfalfa. 

Judge  Quarten  in  an  article  entitled  "Sweet  Clover"  by 
Alson  Secor  says:  "I  seed  with  Early  Champion  oats,  using 
a  bushel  or  a  bushel  and  a  half,  to  eighteen  or  twenty  pounds 
of  sweet  clover  seed.  Cut  the  clover  the  latter  part  of  Sep- 
tember in  northern  Iowa.  If  I  use  barley,  one  bushel  is 
enough. ' ' 

"Don't  you  ever  seed  it  alone?" 

"Haven't  worked  that  out  yet.  I  believe  it  would  pay  to 
throw  some  seed  in  the  cornfield  at  last  cultivation.  Will 
try  that.  But  I  prefer  to  use  a  nurse  crop  to  keep  down 
weeds. ' ' 

We  believe  that  sweet  clover  will,  in  the  future,  become 
the  greatest  legume  crop  for  the  building  up  of  worn  out 
farms.  It  is  the  best  crop  to  pave  the  way  for  the  growing 
of  alfalfa. 

ADDITIONAL  READING 

"Letters  to  the  Clover  Sick  Family."     By  Uncle   Henry. 

Wallace's  Farmer.     Feb.  21,  1913. 
"Soy  Beans  a  Valuable  Crop  for  the  Corn  Belt."    By  C.  H. 

Oathout.     Prairie  Farmer.     March  15,  1913. 


82        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

"Soy  Beans."  By  Piper  and  Nielson.  U.  S.  Farmers'  Bul- 
letin, No.  372. 

"The  Culture  of  Soy  Beans."  By  Leonard  Hegnauer.  Il- 
linois State  Register,  June  30,  1913. 

"Cowpeas. "  By  Griffith.  Fruit  Grower  and  Farmer.  May, 
1913. 

"The  Vetch  Book."     By  William  C.  Smith. 

"Vetches."  By  Piper  and  McKee.  U.  S.  Farmers'  Bulle- 
tin, No.  515. 

"A  Great  Alfalfa  Campaign."     The  Breeders'  Gazette.   May 

21,  1913. 

"Alfalfa."     By  Peter  C.  Swartz.     Farmers'  Review.     Feb. 

22,  1913. 

"Seeding  Alfalfa."     By  Rupert  L.  Stewart.     Weekly  Star. 

Jan.  21,  1913. 
"Alfalfa  on  Illinois  Soil."    By  Cyril  G.  Hopkins.     Bulletin 

No.  26,  111.  Agri.  Ex.  Sta. 
"Sweet    Clover."     By   Alson   Secor.     Successful  Farming, 

October,  1913. 


CHAPTEE   VII 
STABLE  AND   BARNYARD  MANURE 

Stable  manures  are  the  oldest,  as  well  as  the  most 
common,  materials  used  for  enriching  the  land.  On  practic- 
ally all  of  the  farms  in  the  United  States  a  greater  or  less 
amount  of  the  manure  produced  on  the  farm  is  returned 
to  the  land.  However,  the  amount  returned  compared  with 
the  amount  produced  varies  greatly  on  different  farms. 

On  farms  where  the  true  value  of  stable  manure  is  fully 
appreciated  it  will  generally  be  found  carefully  preserved  in 
covered  manure  pens  from  which  it  is  frequently  applied 
to  the  fields  by  means  of  manure  spreaders.  On  other  farms 
where  slip-shod  and  bonanza  methods  are  still  the  rule  it  is 
usual  to  see  steaming  piles  of  uncovered  manure  waiting  for 
months  until  its  value  is  half  gone  (through  leaching),  be- 
fore being  finally  hauled  out  and  .applied  to  the  land.  As 
the  farm  lands  of  this  country  are  becoming  more  depleted, 
stable  manures  are  being  made  better  use  of  and  the  number 
of  farmers  who  deliberately  allow  manure  to  rot  with  no 
intention  of  ever  applying  it  to  the  land  are  fortunately 
becoming  very  few. 

When  farm  land  becomes  so  worn  that  it  is  necessary  to 
apply  commercial  fertilizers  in  order  to  grow  paying  crops, 
every  farmer  is  seriously  made  to  realize  the  true  value  of 
stable  and  barnyard  manure.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  on 
thin  Eastern  farms,  where  the  applications  of  commercial 
fertilizers  are  a  yearly  occurrence,  stable  manure  is  well 
cared  for  and  but  little  is  lost  or  wasted.  Stable  manure 
that  is  produced  on  the  farm  can  be  applied  to  the  land 

83 


84 

at  less  than  a  tenth  of  the  total  cost  of  purchasing,  hauling 
and  applying  commercial  fertilizers  of  equal  fertilizing  value. 
We  consider  stable  manure  second  in  value  only  to  legumin- 
ous crops  for  maintaining  and  increasing  the  productivity  of 
the  farms  of  the  United  States. 

Stable  manure  that  can  be  applied  to  the  land  is,  in  our 
opinion,  worth  more  to  the  Corn  Belt  farmer  than  the  profit 
gained  by  the  application  of  any  of  the  commercial  fertilizers. 
We  have  used  raw  bone  meal  to  some  slight  advantage  and 
the  application  of  several  car-loads  of  rock  phosphate  has 
increased  the  yield  and  improved  the  quality  of  our  farm 
crops  sufficiently  to  justify  the  expenditure.  Notwithstanding 
this,  we  have  made  a  thousand  dollars  by  the  profitable  pur- 
chase of  stable  manure  where  we  have  made  one  hundred 
dollars  by  using  mineral  fertilizers. 

VALUE  OP  STABLE  MANURE 

Stable  and  barnyard  manures  are  without  doubt  the  most 
variable  in  chemical  composition  of  any  of  the  manures  and 
fertilizers  used  for  enriching  the  land.  A  ton  of  pure 
excrement  from  mature  stock  fed  largely  on  nitrogenous 
feeds,  such  as  clover  and  alfalfa,  might  easily  be  worth  as 
much  as  five  tons  of  coarse,  strawy  manure  from  poorly  fed 
stock.  For  this  reason  it  is  impossible  to  determine  the 
value  of  a  ton  of  manure  until  after  it  has  been  analyzed. 

Besides  adding  humus  and  thus  improving  the  physical 
condition  of  the  soil,  stable  manure  contains,  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent,  such  plant  foods  as  nitrogen,  phosphate  and 
potassium.  These  elements  are  essential  to  all  plant  growth 
and  are  deficient  in  most  soils  of  the  Corn  Belt.  A  ton  of 
good  stable  manure  contains  about  ten  pounds  of  nitrogen, 
five  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid  and  ten  pounds  of  potash. 
If  these  elements  were  to  be  obtained  from  the  commercial 
fertilizers  on  the  very  best  terms  they  would  cost  $2.65  per 


STABLE   AND   BARNYARD   MANURE 


85 


ton.  This  is  on  the  basis  of  nitrogen  at  eighteen  cents  a 
pound,  phosphoric  acid  at  four  cents  a  pound  and  potash  at 
four  and  one-half  cents  a  pound. 

While  these  elements  are  not  as  available  for  plant  food 
in  stable  manures  as  in  some  commercial  fertilizers,  we  be- 
lieve this  is  more  than  made  up  by  the  value  of  the  addi- 
tional organic  matter  present. 

On  the  basis  of  plant  food  elements  contained,  good  stable 
manure  is  worth  $2.65  per  ton  after  it  is  applied  to  the  land. 


(Courtesy  Rock  Island  Plow  Co.) 

MANUEE    SPEEADER   IN    OPEEATION 

The  lowest  figures  we  have  at  hand  value  stable  manure  at 
$1.80  per  ton,  while  the  Ohio  Experiment  Station  claims  that 
crops  are  increased  from  $3.00  to  $4.00  for  each  ton  applied. 
When  used  as  a  top  dressing  on  clover  fields,  we  value  manure 
at  $3.00  per  ton,  at  least. 

MANURE  PROM  STOCKYARDS  AND  CITY  STABLES 

Manure  is  worth  a  great  deal  more  after  it  is  applied 
to  the  land  than  before  it  is  hauled  from  the  city  stables  or 
railway  station.  Where  manure  is  purchased  in  nearby  towns 


86        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

and  hauled  to  the  farm  it  should  be  bought  at  prices  low 
enough  to  enable  the  farmer  to  make  good  wages  for  his 
trouble  in  hauling,  aside  from  its  value  in  building  up  the 
land. 

In  most  parts  of  the  Corn  Belt  proper,  manure  from  city 
stock  yards  can  be  purchased  for  as  low  as  $1.00  per  ton, 
freight  prepaid  to  the  farmer's  nearest  station.  If  the  manure 
is  of  fair  quality  and  as  many  as  four  loads  can  be  hauled 
per  man  and  team  in  one  day  we  consider  it  a  good  purchase 
with  corn  selling  at  sixty  cents  per  bushel.  "Where  wood 
shavings  are  used  for  bedding  and  the  manure  is  of  poor 
quality,  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  would  pay  to  handle  it 
at  the  above  price. 

The  best  and  cheapest  manure  is  usually  that  obtained  in 
the  small  towns  of  the  Corn  Belt.  For  several  years  past  we 
have  hauled  annually,  from  eight  hundred  to  one  thousand 
tons  of  manure  from  the  town  of  Mason  City.  We  haul  from 
one  to  two  tons  at  a  load  and  give  in  exchange  straw  for 
bedding.  A  considerable  part  of  our  land  joins  Mason  City 
on  the  south  so  that  the  hauls  are  short.  One  man  with  a 
one  hundred  and  twenty  bushel  spreader  averages  from  six 
to  eight  tons  per  day,  depending  on  the  roads  and  condition 
of  manure.  "We  fully  realize  that  in  getting  manure  at  the 
above  prices  we  are  taking  advantage  of  an  opportunity 
that  does  not  lie  at  every  farmer's  door.  Mason  City  is 
surrounded  by  a  very  fertile  country  and  for  this  reason 
the  manure  is  not  appreciated  locally  like  it  will  be  twenty 
years  hence.  The  town  customers  who  supply  us  with  this 
manure  seem  to  care  less  for  the  straw  they  receive  for  bed- 
ding than  the  fact  that  we  call  regularly  for  the  manure. 
If  any  farmer  wants  a  dependable  supply  of  manure  from 
town  stables  it  is  necessary  to  be  prepared  to  haul  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year  when  the  roads  will  permit.  No  longer 
than  ten  years  ago  it  was  necessary  to  inforce  town  ordi- 


STABLE   AND    BARNYARD  MANURE  87 

nances  in  order  to  get  stable  litter  removed  from  the  alleys 
of  this  town  before  it  became  a  nuisance  to  public  health. 

When  it  comes  to  appreciating  the  value  of  stable  manure, 
the  eastern  farmer  has  shown  himself  more  aggressive  than 
the  Corn  Belt  farmer.  In  New  England  manure  has  had  a 
market  value  for  several  generations  past.  The  fact  that  the 
eastern  farmer  finds  it  necessary  to  manure  his  land  while 
some  of  the  western  farms  are  fertile  enough  to  grow  a  crop 
without  manure  is  no  excuse  for  the  Corn  Belt  farmer.  While 
it  is  still  possible  for  us  to  grow  a  crop  without  first  apply- 
ing manures  or  fertilizers  it  is  also  true  that  a  ton  of  manure 
applied  to  the  black  prairie  land  of  Illinois  will  increase  the 
yield  of  corn,  wheat  and  oats  more  bushels  than  would  be 
the  case  if  the  manure  were  applied  to  thin,  hilly  land.  With 
farm  crops  bringing  the  present  good  prices  we  can  surely 
afford  to  be  as  careful  in  saving  and  as  painstaking  in  apply- 
ing manures  as  can  our  eastern  brothers.  The  New  England 
farmer  has  been  driven  by  necessity  to  increase  the  fertility 
of  his  soil.  In  fact,  much  of  the  secret  of  every  eastern 
farmer's  success  is  to  save  all  the  manure  and  return  it  to 
the  soil.  Many  of  us  in  the  West  are  still  living  off  the  fat 
of  the  land  and  some  of  us  will  continue  to  mine  our  soils 
until  the  fertility  is  completely  exhausted. 

How  SHOULD  MANURE  BE  APPLIED? 

Every  Corn  Belt  farmer  who  is  farming  as  much  as  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  can  afford  to  own  a  manure  spreader. 
The  spreader  distributes  the  manure  more  evenly  and  over 
a  larger  area  than  is  possible  when  applied  by  hand.  We 
believe  that  two  tons  applied  with  a  spreader  will  go  as  far 
as  three  tons  applied  in  any  other  manner.  If  the  farm 
produces  only  one  hundred  tons  of  stable  manure  in  a  year 
and  it  is  made  to  go  as  far  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons 
applied  by  hand,  there  has  been  a  saving  of  fifty  tons  of 


88        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

manure.  If  this  is  worth  only  $1.50  per  load  the  spreader 
has  resulted  in  a  saving  of  $75.00  per  year  on  manure.  In 
addition  to  this  there  will  be  a  saving  of  fully  $25.00  in  labor. 
A  spreader  that  is  kept  oiled  when  in  use  and  shedded  when 
not  should  last  from  ten  to  fifteen  years.  The  average  life 
of  our  own  spreaders  is  from  eight  to  ten  years,  but  in 
hauling  manure  from  town  they  are  subjected  to  harder 
usage  than  would  be  the  case  if  used  only  on  the  farm. 


A  good  time  to  spread  manure  is  on  clover  sod  just  before 
planting  corn,  but  a  better  time  is  to  apply  the  manure  to 
the  clover  plants  the  fall  before.  This  causes  a  decided  in- 
crease in  the  growth  of  the  clover  and  if  the  last  crop  is 
turned  under  the  additional  growth  will  be  of  greater  benefit 
to  the  succeeding  corn  crops  than  would  be  the  case  if  the 
manure  was  applied  direct  to  the  corn.  Again,  manure  can 
be  spread  on  clover  fields  in  wet  weather  when  the  team 
and  wagon  would  pack  and  injure  plowed  ground. 

For  several  years  we  practiced  the  top  dressing  of  wheat 
after  the  ground  became  frozen,  but  now  we  are  convinced 
that  manure  is  worth  more  when  applied  to  clover  or  pasture 
land. 

The  greatest  objection  that  we  have  to  manure  is  that 
it  does  not  go  far  enough  and  this  is  the  strongest  reason  for 
carefully  preserving  and  applying  all  that  is  produced  on  the 
farm.  It  may  be  necessary,  in  time,  for  the  Corn  Belt  farmer 
to  use  commercial  fertilizers,  but  the  longer  he  can  hold  this 
day  off  the  better  it  will  be  for  him. 

By  carefully  returning  to  the  soils  all  the  manures,  corn 
stalks  and  other  trash  and  in  some  cases  applying  rock 
phosphate  or  limestone,  the  prairie  farmer,  with  the  help  of 
frequent  leguminous  crops,  should  be  able  to  maintain  the 
productivity  of  his  land  indefinitely. 


STABLE   AND   BARNYARD    MANURE  89 

ADDITIONAL  READING 

'The  Fertility  of  the  Land."    By  Isaac  Phillips  Roberts. 
'Making  Best  Use  of  Manure."     0.  M.  Hayes.     The  Ohio 

Farmer.    March  8,  1913. 
: Handling  Soil  for  Production."  Twentieth  Century  Farmer. 

March  15,  1913. 
: Soils  and  Fertilizers."    Harry  Snyder,  B.  S. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PHOSPHORUS  AND  LIMESTONE 

The  three  most  important  elements  in  the  soil  are  nitrogen, 
phosphorus  and  potassium.  Of  these  three  soil  elements, 
nitrogen  is  required  in  the  largest  amount.  While  nitrogen 
is  no  more  essential  to  the  growth  of  corn  than  the  other 
two,  it  is  the  element  most  easily  lost  from  the  soil.  As  we 
have  stated  under  "Leguminous  Crops,"  nitrogen  can  be 
gathered  from  the  air  and  stored  in  the  soil  by  the  growing 
of  such  crops  as  clover,  cowpeas  and  soy  beans. 

For  this  reason  the  growing  of  clover  for  the  first  time 
on  over-cropped  corn  land  often  makes  the  soil  very  produc- 
tive for  years  to  come  because  the  supply  of  phosphorus  and 
potassium  has  not  yet  become  lowered.  But  the  supply  of 
phosphorus,  like  that  of  nitrogen,  can  become  so  low  that 
farm  crops  (especially  clover)  will  not  do  well  until  enough 
phosphorus  has  been  replaced  to  bring  the  supply  back  to 
normal. 

On  many  soils  in  the  Corn  Belt  the  crop  yield  is  limited 
by  the  lack  of  phosphorus  rather  than  by  the  lack  of  nitro- 
gen. Now,  the  only  way  by  which  phosphorus  can  be  added 
to  the  soil  is  to  buy  it  in  some  form  or  other  and  apply  it  to 
the  land.  If  the  phosphorus  content  of  the  soil  is  actually 
lower  than  the  nitrogen  content,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that 
the  application  of  phosphorus  would  be  a  profitable  invest- 
ment; but  to  apply  phosphorus  to  soil  that  is  already  very 
low  in  humus  and  nitrogen  is  nothing  less  than  throwing 
money  away.  If  clover  crops  grow  large  and  luxuriant  on 

90 


91 

i 

a  soil,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  soil  is  not  greatly  deficient 
in  phosphorus,  although  a  1,000  pound  application  might  still 
be  a  profitable  investment.  At  any  rate,  it  can  never  do 
any  harm. 

How  TO  BUY  PHOSPHORUS 

Phosphorus  can  be  purchased  in  the  form  of  bone  meal, 
acid  cut  rock  phosphate,  and  raw  rock  phosphate.  The  results 
of  various  experiments  made  at  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Ex- 
periment Station  at  Urbana,  prove  conclusively  that  the  most 
economical  method  of  increasing  the  phosphorus  content  of 
the  soil  is  by  the  application  of  finely  ground  rock  phosphate 
with  stable  manure,  preferably  spread  on  clover  land. 

A  good  grade  of  rock  phosphate  should  contain  from  ten 
to  twelve  per  cent  of  phosphorus.  Since  the  phosphorus  is 
the  only  part  of  the  rock  that  is  of  value  to  the  soil,  it  should 
be  purchased  on  the  basis  of  the  phosphorus  it  contains. 
The  phosphorus  is  chemically  locked  up  in  the  rock  and 
requires  the  action  of  some  acid  to  liberate  it  and  make  it 
available  for  plant  use.  For  this  reason  it  is  best  to  apply 
it  with  manure  on  clover  fields. 

The  acids  in  the  manure  and  clover  plant  will  set  free 
the  phosphorus  much  more  quickly  than  when  applied  to 
some  grain  crop.  The  rock  phosphate  should  be  ground  fine 
enough  so  that  at  least  90  per  cent  of  it  will  pass  through 
a  one-hundred  mesh  screen.  The  finer  it  is  ground  the  more 
quickly  it  will  be  acted  on  by  the  acids  in  the  soil. 

APPLICATION 

A  good  time  to  apply  rock  phosphate  is  in  the  fall.  If 
as  much  as  twelve  tons  are  needed,  it  is  well  to  purchase  it 
in  bulk  by  the  carload.  By  getting  a  minimum  carload,  it  is 
much  cheaper  than  buying  in  bags.  A  good  method  of 


92  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

spreading,  one  that  we  have  followed,  is  to  fill  the  manure 
spreader  about  half  full  of  manure,  then  spread  on  a  layer 
of  phosphate  an  inch  or  two  in  depth,  then  fill  up  the  spreader 
with  manure.  It  is  very  liable  to  blow  away,  and  the  manure 
on  top  prevents  this.  "We  have  a  drill  that  we  have  used  to 
some  extent,  made  especially  for  applying  phosphate,  but 
we  prefer  to  apply  with  the  manure  spreader,  provided  we 
have  the  manure. 

RESULTS 

The  results  of  experiments,  covering  a  period  of  five  years, 
on  the  King  farm  northeast  of  Springfield,  show  that  phos- 
phate treated  plots  yielded  an  average  of  seventeen  and  six- 
tenths  bushels  more  of  corn  per  acre  than  untreated  plots. 
The  increase  in  the  yield  of  oats  and  wheat  was  also  pro- 
portionately greater.  The  Illinois  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  at  Urbana  has  obtained  equally  good  results.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  want  to  be  candid  with  our  readers  and 
state  that  our  own  results  with  phosphate  have  not  been  so 
favorable.  We  believe  that  one  thousand  pounds  per  acre 
applied  on  forty  acres  will  eventually  pay  for  itself  in  in- 
creased yields.  In  addition  to  increasing  the  yields  some- 
what, phosphorus  has  caused  the  corn  to  mature  earlier  and 
has  made  it  more  sound  than  that  grown  on  the  untreated 
fields.  These  last  results,  rather  than  the  small  increase  in 
yields,  have  convinced  us  that  we  have  profited  by  the  appli- 
cation of  phosphate.  We  expect  to  use  more  in  the  future. 

LIMESTONE 

The  object  of  applying  limestone  is  to  neutralize  the 
acidity  of  the  soil.  Limestone  is  not  a  plant  food.  If  soil 
is  acid,  bacteria  storing  legumes  will  not  thrive.  Without 


PHOSPHORUS   AND  LIMESTONE  93 

these  bacteria,  it  is  impossible  for  clover,  soy  beans,  cowpeas, 
etc.,  to  secure  nitrogen  from  the  air.  If  soil  is  very  acid 
(sour),  legumes  can  not  be  grown  until  it  has  first  been 
sweetened  by  the  application  of  limestone.  Thousands  of 
acres  of  land  in  southern  Illinois  are  now  growing  clover 
where  it  was  once  thought  such  crops  could  not  be  grown. 
In  these  cases,  clover  crops  were  made  possible  by  the  appli- 
cation of  limestone. 

To  determine  the  acidity  of  soil,  place  blue  litmus  paper 
between  two  layers  of  soil  to  be  tested.  If  the  paper  turns 
red  in  a  few  minutes  the  soil  may  be  considered  acid  and  the 
application  of  from  one  to  three  tons  per  acre  would  prob- 
ably be  a  very  profitable  investment.  Ground  limestone  costs 
from  one  to  three  dollars  per  ton,  delivered  at  most  Illinois 
points.  This  difference  in  price  is  due  largely  to  the  differ- 
ence in  freight  charges.  (The  state  penitentiary  at  Chester 
is  the  source  of  a  considerable  supply  of  crushed  limestone.) 

Our  soil  is  only  very  slightly  acid.  For  this  reason  we 
have  never  used  any  limestone  on  our  own  farms.  However, 
we  intend  to  apply  it  to  our  alfalfa  fields  next  year. 

POTASSIUM 

So  far,  we  have  said  nothing  about  the  plant  food  element, 
potassium,  for  the  reason  that  the  common  prairie  soils  con- 
tain enough  of  this  element  to  last  for  generations  to  come. 
On  the  other  hand,  bottom  lands,  subject  to  overflow,  already 
show  a  shortage  of  potassium.  Potassium  is  usually  supplied 
by  applying  muriate  of  potash.  When  muriate  of  potash  is 
applied  to  land  that  is  not  deficient  in  potassium  it  acts  as 
a  crop  stimulant  rather  than  as  a  soil  builder.  Germany 
is  the  principal  source  of  potash. 


94        PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

ADDITIONAL  READING 

"Phosphorus  Results."  By  O.  S.  Fisher.  Illinois  State  Reg- 
ister. September  20,  1913. 

"The  Salvation  of  Our  Soil."  By  B.  E.  Powell.  Successful 
Farming,  February,  1913. 

"Frank  Mann's  Soil  Book."  By  Frank  I.  Mann.  (Mr.  Mann 
is  a  practical  farmer  actively  engaged  in  farming.) 

"Results  of  Scientific  Soil  Treatment."  By  Mann  and  Hop- 
kins. 111.  Agri.  Ex.  Sta.,  Bulletin  149. 

"The  Fertility  of  the  Land."    By  Isaac  Phillips  Roberts. 


PART    III 

THE     SEED 


CHAPTER   IX 
SELECTING   THE   BEST   EARS   FOR   SEED 

In  selecting  the  best  ears  of  corn,  whether  for  display  or 
general  field  planting,  the  object  should  be  to  choose  those 
ears  which  will  yield  the  greatest  number  of  bushels  of  sound 
corn  per  acre.  Of  course,  if  one  is  selecting  a  ten-ear  sample 
to  display  at  some  corn  show  or  fair,  one  can  afford  to  pay 
more  attention  to  the  fancy  points  of  each  individual  ear 
than  would  be  the  case  in  selecting  several  bushels  for  general 
planting.  Remember  that  depth  of  kernel,  vitality,  and  ma- 
turity count  for  more  in  yield  than  do  fancy  tips  and  butts. 
A  sample  containing  a  few  ears  having  shallow  kernels  and 
showing  lack  of  maturity  will  never  take  a  ribbon  in  a  con- 
test where  there  is  much  competition,  no  matter  how  near  per- 
fect the  other  qualities  may  be. 

FIELD  SELECTION 

If  seed  corn  is  desired  for  a  breeding  or  seed  plot,  it 
is  a  good  plan  to  select  it  from  the  field  after  the  first  or 
second  frost.  In  this  way,  the  corn  plant,  as  well  as  the  ear, 
can  be  studied;  but  do  not  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry.  The 
natural  place  for  corn  to  ripen  is  in  the  field  and  ears 
selected  before  they  are  properly  ripened  will  have  a  ten- 
dency to  become  chaffy  after  they  are  dried.  An  ear  that 
has  matured  well  in  the  field  will  show  a  strong  germ  and  will 

95 

7 


SELECTING  BEST  EARS  FOR  SEED 


97 


grow  quickly  in  the  spring  providing  the  germ  has  not  been 
injured  by  hard  freezing  weather. 

In  selecting  seed  corn  from  the  field,  choose  only  those 
ears  showing  the  same  degree  of  maturity.  Select  all  early 
or  all  medium  ears,  depending  on  your  requirements.  The 
earliest  maturing  ears  from  a  field  will  average  smaller  in 
size  than  ears  of  medium  maturity.  We  believe  that  most 
of  the  corn  grown  in  the  corn  belt  matures  too  late  to 
produce  the  greatest  number  of  bushels  of  sound  corn.  (All 
elevators,  at  present,  grade  corn  on  the  basis  of  the  moisture 


1234  56 

VAEIATION  IN  SIZE  OF  KEENELS 

Since  it  is  impossible  to  so  adjust  the  planter  as  to  drop  these  different   sized 

kernels  with  uniformity,   all   ears  like   the  four  on  the  left  should  be 

discarded.     Ear  1  js  uniform,   but  the  kernels  are  too  small. 

Ears  5  and  6  have  uniform  kernels  of  the  proper  size. 

it  contains.)  On  the  other  hand,  the  period  of  maturity 
cannot  be  shortened  to  any  great  extent  without  reducing 
the  average  weight  of  the  ears.  In  view  of  these  two  facts, 
we  are  firmly  convinced  that  the  best  corn  for  general  pur- 
poses is  that  which  will  utilize  practically  the  entire  growing 
season,  and  mature  safely  before  it  is  damaged  by  freezing. 
Maturity  is  determined  by  the  dryness  of  the  stalk  leaves 
and  by  the  firmness  of  the  ears  and  grain. 


98 


PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 


Ears  should  be  taken  only  from  those  plants  that  are 
grown  under  normal  conditions,  no  matter  how  vigorous  the 
individual  plant.  Choose  erect,  strong,  healthy  plants.  Select 
ears  of  a  desirable  height  on  the  stalk.  They  should  be 
neither  too  high  or  too  low.  We  prefer  ears  of  a  height  of 


123 
PLUMPNESS    OF    KEENELS    AT   GERM    END 

Ears    (see    ear    No.    1)    with    too    much    space    between    kernels    at    cob    should 
not   be   used   for   seed   purposes.     Ears   Nos.   2   and   3   are    desirable 

about  three  feet.  There  is  a  marked  hereditary  tendency 
in  the  height  of  the  ears  on  the  stalks  which  makes  it  pos- 
sible, through  selection,  to  have  very  tall  stalks  with  the 
ears  nearly  touching  the  ground.  This,  however,  is  un- 
doubtedly an  undesirable  extreme.  We  are  strongly  of  the 
opinion  that  the  height  of  the  ear  on  the  stalk  should  be  in 
proportion  to  the  height  of  the  stalk.  Johnson,  or  Boone 
County  White,  corn  produces  a  very  tall  stalk  in  this  lati- 
tude and  unless  bred  low  more  ears  will  be  above  four  feet 
than  under  that  height.  Four  feet  is  not  an  undesirable 
height  for  so  heavy  a  stalk. 

In   field   selection,   soundness    and   depth   of   kernel   are 


99 


determined  roughly  by  the  weight  of  the  ear.  Determine 
in  advance  what  type  is  desired  and  then  select  ears 
which  conform  to  that  type.  Before  selecting  an  ear, 
examine  it  by  pulling  back  the  husk  on  one  side.  If  it  is  not 
desirable  it  can  be  left  with  little  damage  to  the  ear.  Unless 


1234 
SPACE    BETWEEN    THE    EOWS 

In   ears  Nos.   1   and  2  there   is  too  much   space  between  the  rows.     In   ear  No. 

3  there  is  not  enough  space  to  enable  the  ear  to  dry  properly.       No.  4 

shows   the   proper   amount    of    space   between    the    rows 

field  selection  is  undertaken  in  a  thorough  and  painstaking 
manner,  the  effort  is  often  wasted. 

KE-SORTING  THE  CORN 

If  corn  is  selected  in  the  field,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  gather 
two  or  three  times  as  much  as  will  be  needed  so  that  it  can 
be  carefully  culled  after  it  is  thoroughly  dry.  Many  unde- 
sirable points  are  often  seen  in  corn  after  it  is  dry  that  can 
not  be  detected  in  the  field.  In  order  to  make  the  compari- 
son of  ears  as  easy  as  possible,  they  should  be  placed  on  a 
table.  After  all  ears  that  show  marked  inferiority  have  been 


100 


PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 


discarded,  the  remaining  ears  should  be  placed  side  by  side 
and  at  least  two  kernels  removed  from  the  middle  of  each 
and  placed  above  the  ear  for  comparison.  From  now  on 
we  can  more  easily  study  the  different  points  by  using  the 
corn  score  card. 

THE  CORN  SCORE  CARD 

The  score  card  is  necessarily  arbitrary  and  inflexible,  and 
should  not  be  followed  too  closely  in  the  final  judging  and 


DEPTH    OF    KERNELS 

In  ears  No.   1  and  2  the  kernels  are  too  shallow  and  the  percentage  of  cob  to 

ear  is   too  great.      Ears   Nos.   3   and   4   show   deep   wedge-shaped  kernels 

and   will   shell    out   a   high   percentage    of    corn 

comparison  of  samples.  Nevertheless,  it  is  the  best  aid  the 
beginner  has  for  determining  the  relative  values  and  differ- 
ent points  of  merit  in  different  samples.  The  corn  growers' 
associations  in  the  different  states  have  all  adopted  some 
form  of  score  card  to  be  used  in  the  work  of  corn  judging 
at  their  annual  short  courses  held  at  the  state  agricultural 
colleges. 


SELECTING  BEST  EARS  FOR  SEED 


101 


The  following  table  is  the  revised  score  card  as  adopted 
by  the  Illinois  Corn  Growers'  Association,  January  25,  1911 : 


MEASUREMENT  OP  VARIETIES 


NORTHERN  DISTRICT  OF  STATE 

Minimum 
Length 

Minimum 
Circumfer- 
ence 

Per  cent 
of  grain 
on  cob 

Eeid  's    Yellow   Dent  

8.5  in. 

6.  5  in. 

88 

Learning     

8.5  in. 

6.  5  in. 

88 

Boone  or  Johnson  County  White  .... 
Biley  's  Favorite  

8.5  in. 
8.5  in. 

6.  5  in. 
6.  5  in. 

88 
90 

Golden   Eagle    

8.5  in. 

6.75  in. 

90 

Silver  Mine   

8.5  in. 

6.  5  in. 

90 

Champion  White  Pearl  

8      in. 

6.  5  in. 

85 

General  Classes       

8.5  in. 

16.  5  in. 

88 

CENTRAL  AND   SOUTHERN 
DISTRICTS  OF  STATE 

Eeid  's   Yellow  Dent  

9  5  in. 

6.75  in. 

88 

Learning    

9.5  in 

6.75  in. 

88 

Boone  or  Johnson  County  White.  .... 

9.5  in. 

6.75  in. 

88 

Eiley  's  Favorite  

9      in. 

6.75  in. 

90 

Golden  Eagle  ,  

9      in. 

7       in. 

90 

Silver  Mine  

9      in. 

6.75  in. 

90 

Champion  White  Pearl  

8      in. 

6.75  in. 

85 

General   Classes    . 

9.5  in. 

6.75  in. 

88 

THE  CORN  SCORE  CARD 


POINTS 

Perfect 
Score 

Score  of 
Sample 

1 

Length  of  ear  

10 

9 

Circumference    of   ear  

5 

3 

Color  in  grain  and  cob     

10 

4 

Shape    of    ear  

10 

5 

Uniformity    of    exhibit  

5 

6 

Tips   of  ears  

5 

7 

Butts  of  ears  

5 

8 

Kernel  uniformity    

5 

q 

Kernel  shape    

5 

10 

Space  between  rows    

5 

11 

Space  between  kernels  at  cob   

5 

12 

Vitality  or  seed  condition  

10 

is 

Trueness   to   type  

10 

14 

Proportion  of  shell  corn  to  ear  

10 

Perfect   score        

100 

102  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

EXPLANATION  OP  POINTS  IN  THE  SCORE  CARD 

1.  Length  of  Ears:     The' minimum  length  of  the  ear   depends  on 
the  variety  under  consideration;    thus,  the  minimum   length  of  Eetd's 
Yellow    Dent    in    the    Central    Illinois    Division    is    9.5    inches,    Golden 
Eagle   is    9   inches   and   White   Pearl   is   8   inches.     The   deficiencies   in 
length  of  all  ears   (in  a  ten  ear  sample)   are  added  together,  for  every 
inch    thus    resulting    a    cut    of    two    points    is    made.     The    length    is 
measured  from  the  butt  to  the  extreme  tip. 

2.  Circumference   of  Ears:     The  minimum   circumference,   like  the 
length,   varies  with   the  variety  measurement.     The  deficiencies   in   cir- 
cumference of  all  ears  (in  a  ten-ear  sample)  are  added  together,  and  for 
every  inch  thus  resulting  a  cut  of  two  points  is  made.     The  circumference 
is  measured  at  about  one-third  the  distance  from  the  butt  to  the  tip  of 
the   ear. 

3.  Color:     In  judging  color,  a  red   cob  in  white  corn  or  a  white 
cob  in  yellow  corn  is  cut  ten  points.     For  one  mixed  kernel,  a  cut  of 
one-fifth  of  a  point  is  made;    for  two,  two-fifths   of  a  point,   and   so 
on  up  to  five  or  more,  when  a  one  point  cut  is  made  for  each  additional 
off-kernel.     Kernels  missing  may  be   counted   as   mixed,  at  the   discre- 
tion of  the  judge.    Differences  in  shade  of  color  of  grain  or  cob  are 
scored   according  to  variety  characteristics. 

4.  Shape  of  Ears:     All  ears  should  be  cylindrical  with  straight  rows 
and  with  proper  proportion  of   length  and   circumference.     The   shape 
of   the   ear   should   conform   to   the   variety   type;    thus   Learning   ears 
should  be   slightly  tapering. 

5.  Uniformity    of    Exhibit:     Ears    should    be    uniform    in    shape, 
length   and   circumference. 

6.  Tips  of  Ears:     Oval  shape  and  regularly  filled  out  with  large 
dented   kernels.     In    selecting   for   seed   it    is   sometimes   not   advisable 
to  insist  that  the   tip  be   covered.     If  well   covered  tips   are   selected 
year  after  year  the  ears  will  become  shortened  and  more  will  be  lost 
than  gained. 

7.  Butts   of  Ears:     Kernels   rounded   over  the   end   of  the   cob   in 
regular   manner,   leaving   a   deep    depression   where    shank    is   removed. 
Properly  filled  butts  indicate  perfect  pollination  and  a  relatively  high 
proportion  of  corn  to  cob.     At  present  there  is  not  as  much  stress  laid 
upon  good  butts  and  tips  as  formerly.     A  good  butt,  however,  is  more 
important  than  a  good  tip. 

8.  Kernel  Uniformity:     Kernels  from  the  same  ear  and  from  the 
several  ears  should  be  uniform  in  size  and  shape.     The  kernels   that 
have  been  removed  should  be  carefully  compared.     Ears  should  be  dis- 
carded whose  kernels  are  exceptionally  large  or  small,  broad  or  narrow, 
long   or    short.     Kernel   uniformity   is    more    important    than    ear   uni- 
formity.    The  planter  cannot  be  made  to  drop  regularly  if  the  kernels 
are    irregular.     Other    things    being    equal,    too    long    kernels    indicate 
that  the  corn  will  be  too  late  in  maturing.     The  shortest  kernels  ripen 
early  but  do  not  produce  as  much  corn.     Since  the   general  tendency 

NOTE:  A  part  of  this  chapter  pertaining  to  the  explanations  of  the 
corn  score  card  was  taken  in  the  main  from  the  Eleventh  Annual  Report 
of  the  Illinois  Corn  Growers'  Association. 


SELECTING  BEST  EARS  FOR  SEED     103 

is  for  kernels  to  become  more  shallow,  deeper  kernels  should  be  planted 
than  is  desired  in  the  crop.     See  illustration. 

9.  Kernel  Shape:     This  should  conform  to  the  variety  type.     Gen- 
erally speaking,  kernels  should  be  wedge-shaped  and  full  at  the  germ 
end,  except  Champion  White  Pearl,  which  should  be  smoothly  indented 
with  rounded  top   and  nearly  as  wide  as  deep. 

10.  Space  Between  Bows:     Furrows  between  rows  and  spaces  caused 
by  round  corners  of  kernels,  which  should  be  narrow,  deep  and  sufficient 
for   perfect  ventilation.     See   illustration. 

11.  Space  Between  Kernels  at  Cob:     There  should  be  little  or  no 
space  in  row  between  kernels  at  cob.     Considerable  space  in  the  row 
between  the  kernels  indicate  immaturity  and  lack  of  vigor.     Such  ears 
should  not  be  used  for  seed.     See  illustration. 

12.  Vitality,  or  Seed  Condition:     Ears  should  be  ripe,  sound,   dry 
and   of  strong  vitality.     Grains  of  a  pinkish   color  are  objectionable, 
since  they  indicate  a  diseased  condition.     Three   dead  ears  disqualify 
an  entire  exhibit.     This  is  the  most  important  point  in  the  score  card 
as  well  as   in  selecting  corn'  for  planting. 

13.  Trueness   to    Type:     Conforming   to   variety   characteristics    in 
variety  classes  and  to   the  prevailing  type   in   general   classes,   type   is 
determined   largely   by   the   shape   and   uniformity   of   the   kernels.     In 
fact,  if  kernels   are  uniform   and   of  the   shape   and   indentation   char- 
acteristic of  the  variety  in  question,  the  ear  or  exhibit  may  be  said 
to  have  good  type. 

14.  Proportion  of  Shelled  Corn  to  Ear:     In  determining  the  pro- 
portion of  corn  to  cob,  weigh  each  alternate  ear  in  the  exhibit.     Shell 
and  weigh  the  cobs,  and  subtract  weight  of  cobs  from  weight  of  ears, 
which   will   give   weight   of   corn.     Divide   the   weight    of   corn   by   the 
total  weight  of  ears  to  get  the  percentage  of  corn.     For  each  per  cent 
short  of  standard  for  the  variety,  a  one-point  cut  is  made. 

We  have  tried  to  explain  as  clearly  as  possible  in  this  chapter,  the 
factors  which  enter  into  the  selection  of  corn  for  seed  and  exhibition 
purposes.  To  tell  on  paper  how  to  select  corn  is  almost  impossible. 
For  this  reason  we  urge  all  readers  of  this  book  to  attend  the  nearest 
short  course  in  corn  judging  if  the  opportunity  presents  itself.  No 
matter  how  little  or  how  much  you  know  about  corn,  you  will  learn 
things  that  will  be  of  practical  benefit  to  you,  as  a  corn  grower,  by 
attending  one  of  these  short  courses.  There  are  no  charges  made  for 
taking  these  courses.  Ralph  M.  Ainsworth,  secretary  of  the  Illinois 
Corn  Growers'  and  Stockmen's  Convention,  held  at  Urbana,  will  be 
pleased  to  send  the  program  and  schedule  to  anyone  writing  to  the 
address  on  the  title  page  of  this  book. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"The   Study  of  Corn."     Vernon  M.   Shoesmith. 

"Successful   Corn   Culture."     Prof.   P.   G.    Holden. 

"Selecting  the  Best  Ears  of  Corn."     Successful  Farming.     Oct.,  1912. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   "EAR  TO  THE  ROW"  BREEDING  PLOT 

Corn  has  improved  greatly  in  type  and  yielding  qualities 
in  the  last  twenty  years.  From  a  long,  slender  ear1  on  a 
tall,  heavy  stalk,  corn  has  been  bred  to  a  cylindrical  ear 
with  deep  grains,  showing  a  percentage  of  grain  to  ear  of 
between  eighty-five  and  ninety. 

This  improvement  in  type  and  yielding  qualities  has  been 
due  to  two  things :  First,  the  breeding  plot ;  secondly,  field 
selection.  Improvements  through  the  breeding  plot  are  ac- 
complished largely  in  a  mechanical  way, — by  the  use  of  scales. 
Field  selection  is  done  by  the  picker  ever  keeping  before  him 
the  ideal  that  he  is  striving  to  obtain. 

To  make  the  greatest  progress  in  corn  improvement,  it  is 
necessary  to  combine  breeding  plot  and  field  selection. 

On  the  following  pages  we  will  give  as  well  as  we  can 
our  method  of  conducting  an  ' '  ear  to  the  row ' '  breeding  plot. 

PLANTING  A  CORN  BREEDING  PLOT 

In  starting  a  breeding  plot,  one  hundred  of  the  most 
desirable  ears  are  chosen.  The  ears  of  course  should  be  well 
matured  and  sound  and  the  type  as  good  as  can  be  obtained, 
since  a  mistake  in  the  first  selection  may  set  the  breeder  back 
a  year  or  two.  It  is  better  to  make  a  record  of  the  measure- 
ments of  ears.  (Illinois  farmers  can  obtain  blank  registers 
by  applying  to  L.  H.  Smith,  of  the  University  of  Illinois.) 
If  a  breeding  plot  has  been  conducted  before,  ears,  of  course, 
should  be  selected  from  the  highest  yielding  rows  of  the  pre- 
vious year's  plot. 

105 


106       PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

After  the  description  of  the  ears  has  been  recorded,  they 
are  shelled  separately  and  the  kernels  of  each  placed  in  small 
paper  sacks.  These  sacks  are  tagged  from  one  to  one  hundred 
and  are  then  placed  in  a  grain  sack  and  hung  away  from  the 
mice  until  time  to  plant  in  the  spring.  The  best  time  and 
place  for  this  work  is  in  the  winter  before  the  kitchen  fire. 

In  order  to  prevent  foreign  pollenization  the  breeding  plot 
should  be  situated  in  a  large  field  of  the  same  variety.  A 
very  convenient  size  of  breeding  plot  is  forty  rods  long  and 
one  hundred  rows  wide  (about  twenty  rods).  Assuming  that 
the  breeding  plot  is  to  be  located  in  a  forty-acre  field,  the 
first  thing  is  to  stake  off  six  or  seven  acres  that  contain  no 
ponds,  and  where  the  soil  is  of  uniform  richness.  If  the 
ground  of  the  whole  field  is  prepared  as  corn  ground  should 
be  prepared,  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  the  breeding  plot  any 
extra  preparation.  Planting  should  be  done  in  the  regular 
way  until  the  breeding  plot  is  reached. 

Before  starting  on  the  first  row  of  the  breeding  plot,  the 
corn  is  all  removed  from  the  planter  boxes  and  heavy  paper 
cones  are  inserted,  if  an  edge  drop  planter  is  used.  This  is 
to  keep  the  corn  from  shifting  to  the  center  of  the  box. 
The  corn  in  sacks  No.  1  and  No.  2  is  placed  in  each  planter 
box.  If  planted  three  grains  to  the  hill,  it  will  easily  plant 
the  40  rods,  unless  the  ears  were  exceptionally  small. 

A  stake  should  be  driven  at  the  end  of  the  plot.  As 
soon  as  the  driver  is  even  with  this  stake,  the  regular  field 
corn  is  placed  in  the  planter  box.  This  corn  is  planted  to 
the  end  of  the  field  and  back  to  the  stake.  "When  opposite 
the  stake  on  the  return,  the  driver  stops  and  removes  all 
the  field  corn  in  the  planter  boxes,  empties  into  them  the 
contents  from  sacks  No.  3  and  No.  4,  and  plants  to  the  place 
of  starting. 

Four  rows  from  ears  Nos.  1,  2,  3  and  4  respectively,  have 
now  been  planted.  The  corn  from  ears  Nos.  5,  6,  7  and  8 


V9    0* 


tt 


••OH  < 
I«WL 


epanoj   uido    O 


UJ 

J 

£«> 
CO  o 

tfn 
1 1  I  Q     i 

ocife 


QC^b) 

O  ^i3 
Qoi^ 

CO  ? 

B 
1 


j»^o3i»j  v-JfjP    A0-^^^^-^^^?*  jp-*'?' j"    j?t>f  JL»  .  jf^^^jr 

ffl      mn^io  «:,a    ***<P!o»**»      *****1^*^^!o^-rt*Tj. 

I 


o        'P  "       -=T0T.-^  -P'jr+i-r-gt*-    »v  +*•(*•-*•     &**•*?-*?• 

a  joW»i.*  »»   SfJ^.-tirs  JtC-2-tj^i5^  t  r  C 

o  , 

?  oi«T«3«s  it~T0jStTi'"   fr°?"P*?''°J"3"ooe*'>*1''t--»':r 


o 

z  siani)!! 

jo  «*OH  ^o     «j    0-      a    eo     * 

V            jsqmnji  •—      O    " '      rt      —      ** 


JO»oSL«J      -?• 


*^^    _ 


O     °     ~    ~     O 


1-* 


-* 
-  J 


Jffl 


108  PRACTICAL    CORN    CULTURE 

are  planted  on  the  next  round  and  so  on  until  the  plot  is 
finished.  As  soon  as  a  row  is  planted,  it  is  well  to  tie  the 
tag  on  the  fence  just  back  of  the  row.  If  the  tags  are 
substantial  they  will  serve  to  mark  the  rows  until  the  breed- 
ing plot  has  been  cultivated  the  last  time.  After  the  corn 
is  laid  by,  it  is  best  to  place  numbered  stakes  at  the  end 
of  each  row.  (See  illustration.)  For  convenience,  the  two 
sacks  to  be  planted  on  each  return  should  be  taken  to  the 
far  end  of  the  plot  by  the  driver,  placing  them  in  his  pocket 
as  he  starts  each  round.  As  soon  as  the  breeding  plot  is 
finished,  the  planter  boxes  are  filled  with  the  regular  seed 
of  the  same  variety  and  the  rest  of  the  field  is  planted. 

Now  we  have  a  breeding  plot  in  a  large  field  of  the  same 
variety.  It  is  surrounded  on  three  sides  with  the  same  kind 
of  corn,  which  prevents  foreign  pollenization.  If  the  100 
ears  were  carefully  shelled  and  placed  in  candy  sacks  as 
suggested,  it  should  not  take  more  than  five  hours  longer 
to  plant  this  corn  than  if  planted  in  the  regular  way.  The 
breeding  plot  is  cultivated  at  the  same  time  as  is  the  entire 
field;  in  fact,  one  would  not  know  that  the  breeding  plot 
existed  if  it  were  not  for  the  tags  at  the  end  of  the  rows. 
To  secure  a  uniform  stand,  it  is  well  to  thin  down  to  two 
stalks  to  the  hill  after  the  corn  has  been  plowed  the  first 
time.  The  ears  will  be  larger  with  two  stalks  to  the  hill 
than  with  three. 

DETASSELING 

It  is  almost  necessary  to  detassel  alternate  rows.  If  not 
detasseled,  the  corn  in  each  row,  being  from  a  single  ear, 
would  otherwise  be  closely  inbred.  When  the  alternate  rows 
are  detasseled,  the  product  of  the  detasseled  rows  only  is 
used.  It  can  readily  be  seen  that  by  this  method  cross  pollen- 
ization is  insured. 


THE  "EAR  TO  THE  ROW"  BREEDING  PLOT    109 

Tasseling  time  usually  comes  at  a  very  busy  season  of 
the  year,  which  makes  it  necessary  to  get  the  work  done 
quickly  as  well  as  thoroughly.  This  work  can  be  done  easily 
by  going  between  the  rows  astride  a  horse  muzzled  to  prevent 
destroying  the  corn.  The  tassels  should  be  pulled,  never  cut. 
The  field  should  be  gone  over  the  first  time  when  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  tassels  are  just  beginning  to  show.  A  second 
going  over  a  week  later  will  get  practically  all  of  the  re- 
mainder, providing  the  work  is  carefully  done.  About  two 
weeks  after  the  detasseling,  the  plot  should  be  gone  through 
and  all  suckers  and  barren  stalks  removed.  If  there  are 
many  suckers  the  breeder  will  be  well  repaid  for  this  work 
by  the  increase  in  yield. 

MAKING  OBSERVATIONS 

The  best  time  for  the  breeder  to  make  observations  for 
maturity,  soundness  and  position  of  ear  on  the  stalk,  is  when 
the  earliest  rows  have  just  matured.  The  beginner  in  corn 
breeding  will  be  surprised  to  notice  that  the  husks  in  some 
rows  will  be  brown  and  dry,  while  on  other  rows  they  will 
be  quite  green. 

When  it  comes  to  deciding  what  rows  to  reserve,  your 
opinion  should  be  guided  largely,  but  not  altogether,  by  the 
weight  of  corn  in  the  individual  rows.  If  the  scales  alone 
were  to  make  the  decision,  they  would  very  likely  indicate 
that  we  should  keep  one  of  the  latest  maturing  rows,  since 
they  are  often  the  highest  yielders.  To  decide  by  weight 
alone  would  be  a  very  serious  mistake.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  husk  out  and  weigh  separately  every  detasseled  row  in 
the  breeding  plot.  The  rows  that  promise  apparent  quality 
should  be  weighed  out,  and  only  those  kept  for  seed  that 
show  a  yield  above  the  average. 


110 


PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 


BREEDING  AND  FIELD  SELECTION 

The  purpose  of  the  breeding  plot  is  to  determine  qualities 
not  apparent  in  field  selection.  No  one,  not  even  an  expert 
corn  judge,  can  pick  out  the  highest  yielders  merely  by 
looking  at  the  individual  ears.  In  picking  for  quality  one 
might,  unknowingly,  turn  down  high  yielders.  The  breeding 
plot  and  the  scales  give  the  inherent  quality,  while  score  card 


ylf. yi  p^rryy-^t  r  vf^"r »' 


ONE    HUNDRED    HIGH    YIELDING    EARS 

OF  REID 'S  YELLOW  DENT 

Used    in    1913    breeding   plot 

selection  indicates  apparent  quality  and  even  show  corn. 
But  show  corn  does  not  always  possess  the  greatest  utility. 
Hence,  the  selection  with  the  ideal  in  mind  should  be  com- 
bined with  the  breeding  plot  and  scales  in  order  to  obtain 
seed  corn  that  will  grow  the  greatest  number  of  bushels. 
In  a  herd  of  25  brood  sows  it  seldom  happens  that  the 


THE  "EAR  TO  TEE  BOW"  BREEDING  PLOT    111 

finest  show  animal  is  the  most  prolific,  the  best  mother,  etc. 
What  the  individual  animal  has  done  in  the  past  is  her 
performance  record.  This  is  the  best  assurance  of  what  she 
will  do  in  the  future.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  very  desirable 
that  she  conform  as  closely  as  possible  to  the  score  card. 

The  same  is  true  of  corn.  Corn  is  even  more  susceptible 
to  breeding  than  either  cattle  or  hogs,  since  there  is  more 
room  for  improvement.  For  the  farmer  to  know  that  his 
seed  corn  for  the  coming  season  is  from  a  high  yielding  strain 
and  will  show  a  high  germination  test  should  be  as  impor- 
tant to  him  as  to  know  that  his  hogs  are  prolific  or  that  his 
cattle  are  easy  feeders. 

RESULTS  OBTAINED  IN  BREEDING  CORN 

Progress  in  corn  breeding  is  necessarily  slow.  Neverthe- 
less, it  should  be  every  breeder's  earnest  endeavor  to  make 
this  progress  steady  and  sure.  To  be  perfectly  candid,  we 
must  say  that  in  not  a  single  instance  have  we  ever  obtained 
spectacular  results  in  corn  breeding.  If  one  were  to  start 
with  a  very  low  type  of  corn  the  results  through  careful 
selection  and  breeding  would  undoubtedly  be  very  marked. 
But  starting  with  the  very  best  type  of  the  several  varieties, 
the  improvement  is  not  so  rapid.  In  order  not  to  be  handi- 
capped, the  breeder  should  always  start  with  the  very  best 
seed  that  can  be  obtained. 

Our  own  work  in  corn  breeding  tends  to  show  that  the 
ear  has  very  little  hereditary  tendency  to  reproduce  itself  in 
size.  The  matter  of  size  depends  more  on  local  field  condi- 
tions and  the  hereditary  tendency  of  the  kernel.  On  the 
other  hand,  like  kernels  from  small  and  large  ears  of  the 
same  variety  often  produce  ears  of  the  same  size.  This  tends 
to  prove  that  a  good  shaped  kernel  is  of  more  importance  than 
a  good  shaped  ear.  Medium  sized  ears  out-yield  exceptionally 

8 


112 

large  ears  because  the  very  large  ear  is  generally  later  in 
maturing.  Hence,  the  kernel  does  not  have  the  vitality  pos- 
sessed by  the  kernel  from  the  smaller  ear.  We  believe,  by 
carefully  selecting  our  seed  from  the  high  yielding  rows  in 
the  breeding  plots  and,  at  the  same  time,  following  the  rules 
for  field  selection,  we  can  accomplish  as  much  in  one  year  as 
we  could  in  five  by  using  field  selection  alone.  We  are  so 
sure  of  this  that  we  are  conducting  three  breeding  plots. 
Since  the  results  of  the  breeding  plots  are  always  affected  to  a 
considerable  extent  by  season  and  varying  soil  conditions, 
we  are  not  prepared,  as  yet,  to  make  the  above  statements 
dogmatically.  It  will  take  several  more  years'  experiment  on 
our  part  to  prove  or  disprove  the  above  points.  The  breeder 
who  guesses  at  results  is  a  hindrance  and  not  a  help  to 
corn  improvement. 

There  are  other  points,  however,  on  which  we  are  con- 
vinced beyond  a  doubt :  First,  a  medium  type  of  any  variety 
of  corn  will  out-yield  a  very  rough  type.  The  result  of  last 
year's  breeding  indicates  that  the  rough  type  averaged  in 
yield  only  89.6  per  cent  of  that  of  the  medium  type.  Mr. 
Chas.  A.  Bowe  of  Jacksonville  has  obtained  practically  these 
same  results. 

Some  breeders  have  had  results  proving  that  a  very 
smooth  type  will  out-yield  the  rough.  We  consider,  however, 
the  smooth  type  a  dangerous  extreme,  since  it  does  not  dry 
out  as  well  as  the  rougher  type.  (The  rougher  the  type  the 
longer  the  average  length  of  kernels.)  Our  results  show 
that  the  detasseled  rows  do  not  yield  as  well  as  the  rows 
where  the  tassels  are  not  interfered  with.  Even  if  the  work 
is  carefully  done,  pulling  the  tassels  cuts  the  yield  about 
5  per  cent.  The  loss  is  correspondingly  greater  if  the  work 
is  carelessly  done.  This  shows  that  detasseling  should  be 
undertaken  only  in  the  breeding  plot  and  for  the  express 
purpose  of  insuring  cross  pollenization. 


114  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

Suckering  corn  and  cutting  out  barren  stalks  increase 
the  yield  sometimes  as  much  as  forty  per  cent,  depending  on 
the  number  of  suckers  and  the  dryness  of  the  season.  Our 
greatest  gain  was  the  result  of  cutting  out  over  half  the 
stalk  growth  on  a  very  dry  year  (1913).  The  sooner  this 
work  can  be  done  after  the  corn  tassels,  the  better.  Two  men 
in  six  days  can  cut  out  the  suckers  and  barren  stalks  in  the 
average  forty-acre  field.  It  is  not  necessary  to  have  an  "ear 
to  the  row"  breeding  plot  in  order  to  test  the  results  of 
detasseling  and  suckering.  These  two  experiments  can  be 
made  in  any  field  of  corn. 

There  are  hundreds  of  things  to  be  determined  by  corn 
breeding,  but  the  work  is  so  slow  that  no  one  individual  can 
be  expected  to  establish  more  than  a  few  facts.  Realizing 
that  co-operation  was  necessary  in  order  to  make  the  most 
rapid  progress,  the  Illinois  Seed  Corn  Breeders'  Association 
was  organized  in  1900.  One  member  of  this  association, 
Louie  H.  Smith,  assistant  chief  in  plant  breeding  at  the 
University  of  Illinois,  has  succeeded  in  breeding  a  high  and 
low  protein  and  high  and  low  oil  corn.  Mr.  Smith's  work 
along  this  line  of  breeding  has  extended  over  fifteen  years. 
His  results  are  undoubtedly  the  most  pronounced  of  any  that 
have  been  attempted  in  corn  breeding. 

The  work  of  producing  hybrid  seed  has  been  carried  on 
by  H.  J.  Sconce,  of  Sidell,  111.  Mr.  Leigh  F.  Maxey,  of 
Curran,  111.,  has  perhaps  done  more  than  any  other  indi- 
vidual in  breeding  and  establishing  the  type  characteristic 
of  Learning  corn. 

OBSTACLES   TO   CONTEND   WITH   IN   BREEDING   CORN 

The  corn  breeder  is  often  discouraged  by  adverse  condi- 
tions over  which  he  has  no  control.  Cutworms  may  make 
.the  stand  so  uneven  that  the  weight  of  the  corn  in  the  indi- 


THE  "EAR  TO  THE  ROW"  BREEDING  PLOT    115 

vidual  rows  would  be  of  no  advantage.  We  have  had  a 
breeding  plot  ruined  by  water  standing  in  a  depression  in 
the  center  of  the  field.  If  the  scales  are  to  help  select  seed 
by  pointing  out  high  yielding  strains,  the  stand  must  be 
uniform. 

This  last  summer  of  1913,  which  was  one  of  the  dryest 
crop  years  we  have  ever  seen,  was  a  poor  year  for  indicating 
the  relative  value  of  seed  from  the  different  rows.  We  do 
not  consider  our  results  from  that  year's  breeding  to  be  of 
half  the  value  of  those  obtained  in  1911  and  1912.  While 
these  facts  are  discouraging,  the  corn  breeder  is  still  better 
off  than  the  grower  of  pure  bred  hogs,  who  may  lose  his 
entire  herd  from  cholera. 

CARING  FOR  THE  BEST  EARS 

After  the  corn  has  been  carefully  husked  and  weighed, 
the  best  ears  from  the  most  desirable  rows  should  be  care- 
fully dried  by  laying  on  racks.  The  racks  can  be  of  wood 
or  wire,  or  the  corn  can  be  strung  on  binder  twine.  If  the 
breeding  plot  is  gathered  in  October,  it  can  safely  be  dried 
by  hanging  in  a  dry  loft ;  but  if  gathered  later,  it  is  generally 
best  to  dry  in  a  mildly  heated  room,  since  the  germ  might 
be  injured  by  a  sudden  cold  spell  coming  before  the  moisture 
was  all  out  of  the  ear. 

One  should  never  go  to  the  other  extreme  and  lay  corn 
on  boards  over  the  furnace.  This,  of  course,  will  soon  dry 
the  corn,  but  it  will  also  cause  some  of  the  oil  to  evaporate, 
which  undoubtedly  weakens  the  germ. 

These  methods  of  securing  high  yielding  seed  may  seem 
too  expensive  to  some,  but  when  one  stops  to  consider  that  an 
increase  of  only  ten  per  cent  often  means  a  difference  of 
from  100  to  400  bushels,  on  the  average  farm,  one  can  see 
that  this  time  is  well  spent. 

Corn  shows  and  short  courses  in  corn  judging  are  for 


116  PRACTICAL    CORN    CULTURE 

the  purpose  of  educating  farmers  and  farmers'  boys  to  grow 
more  prolific  seed  and  to  know  how  to  select  and  care  for  it 
through  the  winter.  To  get  the  greatest  benefit  from  these 
courses  offered  in  corn  judging,  they  should  be  supplemented 
by  practical  work  in  corn  breeding  on  the  farm. 

This  chapter  has  been  taken  in  the  main  from  an  article 
in  the  January  15th  issue  of  the  Prairie  Farmer  entitled 
''Breeding  Corn  for  Quality  and  Productiveness,"  by  Ralph 
M.  Ainsworth. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

''Ten  Generations  of  Corn  Breeding."    By  Louie  H.  Smith. 

111.  Agri.  Ex.  Sta.  Bulletin  No.  128. 
"Increased  Yields  of  Corn  from  Hybrid  Seed."     By  G.  N. 

Collins.    U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agri.  1910. 
"The  Production  of  Good  Seed  Corn."     By  C.  P.  Hartley. 

U.  S.  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  229. 
"The  Study  of  Corn."     By  Vernon  M.  Shoesmith. 


CHAPTER   XI 
DRYING   AND    STORING    SEED    CORN 

The  importance  of  preserving  all  the  vitality  by  gather- 
ing the  seed  corn  for  next  year's  planting  before  cold  freezing 
weather  sets  in  is  being  appreciated  more  and  more  by  farm- 
ers and  corn  growers.  There  are,  however,  a  large  number 
of  farmers  who  still  depend  for  the  coming  year's  seed  upon 
the  occasional  good  ear  found  throughout  the  husking  season. 
Still  others  are  satisfied  with  the  best  looking  ears  found  in 
the  corn  crib  in  the  spring.  The  loss  sustained  by  these  two 
classes  varies  with  the  mildness  or  severity  of  late  fall  weather 
and  the  picker's  ability  to  detect  the  sound  from  the  unsound 
seed  ears. 

Let  us  say  right  here  that  even  the  most  experienced  are 
sometimes  deceived  in  the  condition  of  the  ear  by  the  appear- 
ance of  the  germ.  A  yellow  or  brownish  embryo  and  germ 
indicate  that  the  corn  has  been  frozen.  When  the  embryo 
is  wrinkled  or  pale  in  color  it  usually  means  a  loss  of  vitality 
due  to  long  storage.  Old  corn  that  has  been  carried  over 
one  summer  should  never  be  planted  if  sound  new  corn  can 
be  secured.  While  old  corn  will  usually  grow,  it  is  always 
slow  in  starting,  due  to  the  evaporation  of  some  of  the  oil 
from  the  germ. 

A  good  healthy  germ  and  embryo  should  be  nearly  white ; 
but  germination  tests  prove  that  some  kernels  have  white 
clean  cut  germs  and  still  send  up  a  weak  sprout  due  to 
exposure  and  bad  storing.  The  only  way  to  be  sure  that  seed 
will  grow  is  to  plant  only  seed  that  has  been  carefully  dried 
before  hard  freezing  weather  sets  in. 

117 


118 


PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


TIME  TO  GATHER  SEED  CORN 


In  this  latitude,  October  is  undoubtedly  the  best  month  in 
which  to  gather  seed  corn.  If  this  important  work  is  put  off 
until  the  middle  of  November,  the  vitality  of  the  seed  may 
be  injured  by  wet  weather,  followed  by  a  hard  freeze.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  not  a  good  plan,  as  a  general  rule,  to 
gather  seed  as  early  as  September.  Unless  there  are  indi- 
cations of  early  freezes,  corn  should  be  allowed  to  ripen  in 
the  field.  Professor  P.  G.  Holden,  in  "Successful  Corn  Cul- 
ture," says,  "It  is  not  a  good  plan  to  harvest  the  seed  in 


MODEEN  SEED  CORN  DRYING  PLANT 

September  while  the  corn  is  immature,  as  it  is  more  difficult 
to  preserve,  will  be  chaffy  and  give  weaker  plants  than  corn 
which  has  been  allowed  to  fully  mature  on  the  stalk."  Seed 
corn  that  has  been  picked  before  it  is  matured  shows  a 
shriveled  condition  of  the  kernels  after  it  is  thoroughly  dried. 

BEST  PLACE  FOR  THE  FARMER  TO  STORE  SEED  CORN 

A  storeroom  or  bedroom  that  can  be  spared  is  the  best 
place  for  the  farmer  to  store  seed  corn.  The  attic,  if  not  too 
inaccessible,  is  also  a  good  place,  although  zero  weather  before 


DRYING  AND   STORING   SEED   CORN         119 

the  corn  was  dry  would  weaken  some  of  the  sappiest  ears 
unless  the  attic  could  be  heated.  Notwithstanding  the  danger 
of  frost,  the  attic  is  far  ahead  of  the  cellar.  If  there  is  a 
furnace  in  the  cellar  the  corn  is  apt  to  dry  too  quickly  or  to 
become  too  dry.  Remember,  if  corn  is  allowed  to  become  too 
dry,  it  will  be  slow  in  starting  in  the  spring.  If  there  is  no 
furnace  in  the  cellar,  the  corn  will  dry  too  slowly  unless  it 
is  well  dried  before  being  placed  there.  Again,  the  average 
cellar  does  not  have  sufficient  ventilation  for  the  proper 
drying  and  storing  of  corn.  On  all  good  drying  days  the 
windows  should  be  thrown  wide  open.  There  is  nothing 
that  dries  seed  better  than  a  warm,  dry  breeze  blowing 
through  it  as  it  lays  on  the  racks.  When  the  weather  is  damp, 
the  windows  should  be  closed  if  a  door  can  be  opened  into 
the  rest  of  the  house.  If  not,  the  windows  should  never  be 
closed  entirely,  unless  the  room  is  very  large  and  the  amount 
of  corn  small.  If  a  tight  room  is  filled  with  new  corn,  the 
corn  is  apt  to  mold,  no  matter  how  well  it  is  hung  up,  unless 
the  room  is  constantly  ventilated.  Moisture,  as  it  leaves  the 
corn,  must  have  some  means  of  escaping. 

LAYING  ON  RACKS 

For  several  years  past,  we  have  dried  all  of  our  ear  seed 
corn  on  wooden  racks.  These  racks  are  built  of  one  by  four 
inch  uprights  in  which  tenpenny  nails  are  driven  every  four 
inches  and  on  which  heavy  lathe  are  laid.  .(See  illustration.) 
The  racks  are  all  placed  on  slatted  floors  which  permit  perfect 
ventilation.  There  are  a  number  of  good  ways  to  dry  seed 
corn.  An  old  and  very  good  plan  is  to  string  the  ears  on 
binder  twine  and  suspend  them  from  the  ceiling.  Of  late 
years,  various  kinds  of  wire  hangers  for  drying  corn  have 
been  placed  on  the  market.  If  these  hangers  are  not  placed 
too  close  together  they  will  dry  the  corn  as  well  as  any  other 


DRYING  AND   STORING   SEED   CORN         121 

method.  If  the  hangers  are  made  out  of  woven  fence  wire, 
they  tangle  badly  when  the  corn  is  removed,  and,  if  made 
of  steel,  they  are  rather  too  expensive. 

STORING  SEED  CORN  ON  A  LARGE  SCALE 

In  order  to  dry  corn  to  the  best  advantage,  the  drying 
room  should  be  so  constructed  that  it  can  be  thrown  open 
on  all  sides  in  mild  weather.  It  should  be  tight  enough  when 
closed  up  to  enable  it  to  be  evenly  heated  in  cold  weather. 
A  plant  built  especially  for  drying  corn  for  seed  should  be 
tall  with  the  floors  slatted  to  allow  a  free  circulation  of  air 
from  bottom  to  top.  There  should  always  be  ventilating 
flues  in  the  roof,  and  these  should  never  be  closed  until  the 
corn  is  dry.  Corn  should  be  gathered  early  and  taken  direct 
to  the  plant  where  it  is  picked  over  the  same  day  and  laid 
on  racks  or  put  in  ventilated  cribs.  -Corn,  to  show  the  highest 
germination,  should  be  gathered  as  soon  as  it  has  ripened 
in  the  field  and  stored  in  a  room  that  is  frost  proof  and  at 
the  same  time  thoroughly  ventilated. 

Great  advancement  has  been  made  in  the  last  ten  years  in 
the  construction  of  buildings  made  especially  for  the  drying 
and  preparing  of  seed  corn  for  market.  Some  well  venti- 
lated and  thoroughly  heated  plants  have  not  given  the  best 
results,  simply  because  they  wTere  filled  too  full  of  seed  corn. 
We  are  of  the  opinion  that  in  order  to  obtain  the  best  results, 
no  seed  drying  plant  should  be  filled  to  more  than  one-half 
of  its  crib  capacity. 


CHAPTER   XII 
PREPARING  SEED  CORN  FOR  PLANTING 

There  is  only  one  way  by  which  the  farmer  can  be  certain 
that  his  seed  corn  is  strong  in  vitality,  that  is,  to  give  it  a 
germination  test.  By  an  examination  of  the  germ,  most  of 
us  can  tell  whether  the  kernel  is  healthy  or  dead;  but  no 
man's  judgment  can  be  depended  upon  to  detect  unerringly 
the  strong  from  the  weak.  For  this  reason,  a  sample  from  all 
corn  to  be  planted  should  be  tested  and,  if  it  does  not  show 
a  germination  of  at  least  ninety-five  per  cent,  each  individual 
ear  should  be  tested. 

One  hundred  good  sized  ears  will  plant  ten  acres.  One 
man  can  easily  examine  and  place  in  the  tester  the  kernels 
from  four  hundred  ears  in  one  day.  This  is  enough  seed  to 
plant  forty  acres,  and  if  only  a  few  weak  or  dead  ears  are 
revealed  by  the  test,  the  farmer  is  well  repaid  for  his  trouble. 

This  question  is  often  asked,  If  the  corn  is  selected  from 
the  field  before  freezing  weather  sets  in  and  is  properly 
dried  will  it  be  necessary  to  test  it?  If  all  this  has  been 
done,  it  will  perhaps  not  be  necessary  to  test  each  ear;  but 
in  order  to  be  sure  the  seed  is  strong,  a  fair  composite  sample 
should  be  tested.  If  the  results  do  not  show  uniformly  strong 
sprouts,  the  ears  should  be  individually  tested  and  the  weak 
thrown  out.  There  are  so  many  different  conditions  that 
can  weaken  the  vitality  of  seed  corn  that  the  only  safe  plan 
is  to  test  at  least  a  sample. 

All  seed  sent  out  by  reliable  seed  corn  growers  is  sold 
under  a  definite  germination  guarantee  of  from  ninety  to 
ninety-seven -per  cent.  This  germination  is  determined  after 

122 


making  numerous  tests  from  all  parts  of  the  plant.  If  a 
certain  percentage  of  germination  is  guaranteed  the  grower 
is  honor  bound,  as  well  as  required  by  law,  to  replace  or 
return  the  purchase  price  for  all  seed  falling  short  of  germi- 
nation standard. 

If  there  is  any  doubt  about  the  vitality  of  seed  corn  pur- 
chased from  a  seed  firm  or  neighbor,  it  should  be  tested 
before  making  a  complaint.  A  conservative  seed  corn  grower 
will  always  guarantee  less  than  the  results  of  the  germina- 
tion tests,  as  most  breeders  do.  A  guarantee  of  ninety-five 
per  cent  is  a  strong  guarantee  for  seed  that  will  usually  go 
over  ninety-nine  per  cent. 

Some  customers,  in  placing  their  order  for  seed  corn, 
state  that  they  expect  to  test  the  seed  when  it  arrives;  and 
if  it  does  not  test  a  certain  amount,  it  will  be  returned. 
This  is  sometimes  a  stiff  proposition  but  it  is  made  fairly 
and  squarely.  The  breeder  alone  knows  whether  or  not  his 
seed  will  come  up  to  the  requirements  and  the  order  should 
be  accepted  or  declined  accordingly. 

THE  FOUR  ESSENTIALS  OF  GERMINATION 

All  seeds,  to  make  the  most  rapid  growth,  must  be  strong 
in  vitality.  The  seed  bed  also  must  be  of  the  right  tempera- 
ture and  must  contain  the  proper  amount  of  moisture  and 
oxygen. 

If  corn  is  gathered  before  it  has  had  time  to  ripen  in 
the  field,  the  kernels  will  be  immature.  Immature  corn,  due 
to  the  larger  amount  of  sugar  in  the  kernels,  will  usually 
germinate  rapidly  under  ideal  conditions,  but  since  it  has  a 
small  reserve  of  plant  food,  the  kernels  will  rot  if  the  ground 
is  cold  and  wet,  before  the  young  rootlets  have  "a  chance  to 
draw  from  outside  sources. 


124 


PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


Again,  the  vitality  of  the  seed  will  be  weakened  if  sub- 
jected to  either  repeated  freezing  or  high  temperatures.  Corn 
will  germinate  between  the  wide  variation  of  from  forty-eight 
to  one  hundred  and  fifteen  degrees.  It  will  make  the  most 


MODERN    SEED    CORN 


rapid  growth,  however,  at  ninety-three  degrees.  Since  it  will 
make  a  more  hardy  growth  at  about  eighty  degrees,  this  is 
perhaps  the  best  temperature  for  germination. 

Moisture  is  just  as  essential  as  proper  temperature.  Water 
softens  the  seed  covering,  dissolves  the  plant  food  and  carries 


125 


it  to  the  growing  embryo.  Too  much  moisture,  however, 
means  too  little  oxygen.  This  is  the  principal  reason  for 
seed  rotting  in  heavy,  wet  land.  Corn  cannot  make  rapid 
growth  without  an  abundance  of  air. 

THE  SEED  TESTER 

Conditions  which  apply  to  the  field  apply  equally  well 
to  the  seed  corn  tester.  If  the  seed  corn  tester  is  to  show 
accurately  by  its  results  the  true  condition  and  the  relative 
value  of  the  different  ears,  it  must  provide  sufficient  moist- 
ure, give  ample  ventilation,  and  keep  the  temperature  be- 
tween sixty  and  one  hundred  degrees.  It  had  better  fall 
below  sixty  degrees  than  go  above  one  hundred  degrees.  In 
order  not  to  give  some  of  the  kernels  an  advantage  over 
others,  the  moisture,  temperature  and  ventilation  should  be 
uniform  in  all  .parts  of  the  tester. 

The  trays  should  be  pigeonholed  off  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  kernels  from  e.ach  ear  can  be  placed  in  a  separate 
pocket  so  that  their  identity  will  not  be  lost.  A  good  time 
to  test  seed  corn  is  in  March.  This  is  late  enough  for  all 
the  ears  to  show  their  true  condition  and  is  early  enough  to 
allow  the  farmer  to  procure  more  seed,  if  the  test  is  unsatis- 
factory, before  spring  work  requires  his  attention. 

SHELLING  AND  GRADING  CORN  FOR  PLANTING 

Before  corn  is  shelled,  it  should  be  carefully  tipped  and 
butted  since  the  tip  and  butt  grains  are  irregular  in  size, 
besides  being  smaller  and  larger  than  the  type  desired.  After 
the  uneven  grains  are  shelled  off  the  tip  and  butt  ends,  the 
remaining  kernels  should  be  carefully  examined  and  all 
off-colored  or  undesirable  grains  removed. 

The  ears  are  now  shelled.     If  the  shelling  is   done  by 


(C  jurtesy  A.  T.  Ferrell  &  Co.) 

LAEGE  SEED  COEN  GEADEK 


128       PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

machinery,  the  spring  tension  should  be  as  loose  as  possible 
consistent  with  effective  work.  If  considerable  corn  is  cracked 
in  shelling,  the  indications  are  that  the  corn  was  either  too 
dry,  or  the  sheller  is  not  properly  adjusted. 

In  order  to  secure  a  uniformity,  a  corn  grader  should  be 
used.  There  are  hundreds  of  corn  graders  on  the  market. 
They  range  in  price  from  five  dollars  for  small  ones  to  eight 
hundred  dollars  for  large  graders  used  in  large  seed  corn 
drying  plants.  The  very  cheapest  corn  graders  will  do  better 
work  than  will  the  average  farm  fan  mill.  A  good  grader 
should  take  out  all  the  large  and  small  grains  and  about 
nine-tenths  of  the  cracked  kernels. 

It  is  necessary  to  take  out  from  twenty  per  cent  to  forty 
per  cent  in  order  to  have  an  even  grade.  The  difference  in 
yield  between  graded  and  ungraded  seed  is  often  as  much 
as  ten  bushels  per  acre.  This  difference  is  due  to  the  more 
even  planting  of  graded  seed,  not  because  the  smaller  and 
larger  kernels  are  poorer  yielders. 

ADDITIONAL  READING 

"The  Study  of  Corn."    By  Vernon  M.  Shoesmith. 

"Corn."     By  Bowman  and  Crossby. 

"Seed  Corn  Must  Make  Good."    By  L.  C.  Hutcheson.   Corn. 

March,  1913. 
"Make  Corn  Growing  Pay."    The  Fruit  Grower  and  Farmer, 

1913. 
"Getting  Ready  for   This  Year's   Corn   Crop."     Twentieth 

Century  Farmer.     February  22,  1913. 
"Ten  Bushels  More  Corn  to  the  Acre."    By  Robt.  H.  Moul- 

ton.     Fruit  Grower  and  Farmer.     March,  1913. 
"It  Pays  to  Test  the  Seed  Corn."     By  Arthur  Lumbrick. 

The  Prairie  Farmer.    March  15,  1913. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
INSECT  ENEMIES  AND  PLANT  DISEASES 

Of  all  the  obstacles  to  the  successful  growing  of  corn, 
none  has  ever  shown  itself  in  a  more  serious  aspect  than  the 
destruction  due  to  injurious  insects  and  plant  diseases.  The 
problem  of  how  to  control  them  is  a  hard  one  and  should 
receive  the  attention  of  every  farmer. 

We  do  not  feel  competent  in  ourselves  to  handle  this 
subject  of  insects  and  diseases  attacking  corn,  and  for  this 
reason  we  have  appealed  to  Prof.  S.  A.  Forbes,  Illinois  State 
Entomologist,  who  has  carefully  helped  us  by  correcting  and 
revising  this  chapter.  In  addition  to  this  we  want  to  thank 
Professor  Forbes  for  furnishing  us  illustrations  of  insects. 

On  the  following  pages  we  shall  describe  briefly  the  more 
injurious  of  these  insects,  and  suggest  remedies  with  which 
to  suppress  them. 

INSECTS  INJURING  THE  SEED  AFTER  PLANTING 

The  Corn  Wire  worm  (Several  species  of  melanotus): 
These  are  the  larvas  (offspring)  of  the  common  snapping 
beetles.  They  are  hard,  smooth-skinned,  reddish  brown, 
worm-like  creatures,  and  vary  in  size  from  the  thickness  of 
a  pin  to  the  thickness  of  a  darning-needle.  The  body  is 
divided  into  thirteen  segments,  and  has  three  pairs  of  short, 
stout  legs. 

The  corn  wireworm  eats  into  the  kernel  after  it  has  been 
softened  by  the  moisture  in  the  ground,  and  also  bores  into 

129 


130 


PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


and  even  through  the  underground  part  of  the  stalk.     This 
usually  results  in  the  total  destruction  of  the  plant. 

Their  eggs  are  laid  most  commonly  in  grasslands,  and 
their  life  history  is  such  that  their  injuries  to  corn  are  most 
severe  the  second  year  after  grass.  Late  fall  plowing  and 


The    Corn    Wire- 
worm        (Melano- 
tus   cribulosus, ) 
larva. 


The  Corn  Wireworm 

(Melanotus    cribulosus) 

adult. 


crop  rotation  with  frequent  clover  crops  are  the  practical 
methods  employed  to  prevent  injury  by  this  insect. 

Seed  Corn  Maggot  (Phorlia  fusciceps):  This  maggot 
eats  the  interior  out  of  both  sprouting  and  unsprouted  ker- 
nels. The  adult  is  very  similar  in  appearance  to  the  common 


INSECT  ENEMIES  AND  PLANT  DISEASES    131 

house  fly.     Severe  injuries  by  this  insect  are  unusual,  and 
there  is  no  known  method  of  preventing  them. 

INSECTS  ATTACKING  THE  ROOTS 

The  Corn  Root  Louse  (Aphis) :  Every  farmer  has  noticed 
the   little  blue   insects   clustered   in   great  numbers  on   the 


ADULT    OF   SEED   COEN   MAGGOT 
Phorbia  Fuseiceps 


LAEVAE    OF    SEED    COEN    MAGGOT 
Phorbia  Fuseiceps 

roots  of  the  corn.  They  feed  on  the  juice  of  the  corn  root, 
and  if  present  in  large  numbers  sometimes  kill  the  plant. 
Later  in  the  season  another  kind  of  aphis  is  found  on  the 


132       PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 

leaves,  husks  and  tassels  of  the  plant.  There  seems  to  be  a 
partnership  existing  between  the  corn  root  louse  and  the  com- 
mon field  ant.  The  ant  places  the  young  of  the  aphis  on 
the  roots  of  the  corn  plant  and  for  this  service  it  feeds  on  a 
liquid  known  as  honeydew,  which  exudes  from  the  body  of 
the  louse. 

Remedy:     Thorough  cultivation,  by  checking   the  work 
of  the  ants  has  a  wonderful  effect  in  lessening  the  number 


THE   CORN  EOOT   LOUSE 

Aphis  maidiradicis  (female) 

of  the  lice.  If  the  ants  are  working  much  around  the  hills 
we  harrow  the  young  corn.  Where  furrow  openers  are  used 
the  harrowing  pulls  loose  dirt  around  the  hills  and  effectu- 
ally checks  the  work  of  the  ants  until  after  the  next  rain. 
Rotation,  however,  is  a  standard  practical  method  of  check- 
ing the  injury  although  it  cannot  be  said  to  eradicate  this 
pest. 

As  the  ants  winter  in  old  cornfields,  with  the  eggs  of  the 


INSECT  ENEMIES  AND  PLANT  DISEASES     133 

root  lice  in  their  nests,  the  best  preventive  of  injury  is  to 
prepare  the  field  for  corn  by  deep  and  early  plowing  and 
repeated  discing.  This  tears  up  the  ants'  nests  and  scatters 
the  root-louse  eggs  through  the  dirt,  at  the  same  time  keeping 
down  the  young  weeds  upon  which  the  root  lice  live  until 
the  corn  begins  to  grow. 

The  corn  root  louse  has  perhaps  worked  a  greater  injury 
to  corn  than  any  other  one  insect.     Every  farmer  should 


THE  COEN  BOOT  LOUSE 
Aphis  maidiradicis  (female) 

study   the  habits  of  this  insect   and  make  every  effort  to 
check  its  injurious  work. 

The  Corn  Root  Worm  (Diabrotica  longicornis) :  The 
adult  of  the  corn  root  worm  is  a  beetle;  green  or  yellowish 
green  in  color  and  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long.  The 
beetle  feeds  on  the  pollen  and  silk  and  deposits  her  eggs 
in  the  ground  at  the  base  of  the  stalk.  The  following  spring 
these  eggs  hatch  out  into  the  corn  root  worms. 


134  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

Since  the  corn  root  worm  is  dependent  for  its  food  upon 
the  roots  of  the  corn  the  eggs  are  seldom  deposited  outside 
of  the  cornfield.  It  is  due  to  this  fact  that  a  cornfield  is 
never  injured  by  the  corn  root  worm  the  first  year  and 
even  the  second  year  the  damage  done  is  usually  very  slight. 
But  if  the  field  is  put  in  corn  three  or  four  years  in  succes- 
sion it  is  very  doubtful  if  the  last  two  crops  ever  escape 
without  serious  injury.  In  some  cases  we  have  known  the 
yield  of  corn  to  be  lowered  from  thirty  to  forty  per  cent 
as  a  direct  result  of  the  ravages  of  these  insects. 

The  corn  root  worm  lives  on  the  roots  of  the  corn  plant. 
They  often  eat  off  the  ends  of  the  roots  of  the  plant  and 
then  burrow  just  under  the  outer  covering  of  the  root  the 
entire  length  of  the  root.  The  corn  root  worm  can  be  easily 
found  by  carefully  splitting  an  injured  root.  It  is  usually 
about  three-eighths  of  an  inch  long  and  about  the  thickness 
of  a  pin  and  of  a  white  or  flesh  color. 

It  can  safely  be  said  that  the  damages  resulting  from  the 
corn  root  worm  are  due  entirely  to  the  bad  practice  of  con- 
tinuous corn  cropping.  If  a  rotation  of  crops  is  adopted  in 
which  corn  is  never  grown  longer  than  two  years  in  suc- 
cession we  shall  soon  have  the  corn  root  worm  under  easy 
control.  If  crop  rotation  were  only  as  effective  in  checking 
other  insects  as  it  is  in  heading  off  the  corn  root  worm,  the 
insect  problem  would  not  present  the  serious  aspect  it  does. 

White  Grub  (several  species  of  lachnosterna:)  This  is 
the  larvae  of  the  common  May  beetle.  These  beetles  usually 
deposit  their  eggs  in  fields  of  grass,  timothy  and  small  grains, 
and  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  timber  where  they  feed. 

The  eggs  hatch  into  small  brown-headed  grubs,  which 
feed  on  the  grass  and  corn  roots.  They  do  not  attain  their 
full  growth  until  the  third  or  fourth  year.  They  are  most 
abundant  in  old  blue-grass  pastures.  Their  presence  can 


INSECT  ENEMIES  AND  PLANT  DISEASES     135 

be  detected  by  the  fact  that  the  grass  dies  out  in  the  spots 
where  they  are  thickest. 

The  surest  way  to  rid  the  cornfield  of  grubworms  is  to 
pasture  it  with  hogs  the  summer  before  it  is  put  in  corn. 
The  hogs  will  root  to  a  depth  of  a  foot  or  more  in  search  of 
grubs.  A  cornfield  that  is  hogged  down  is  usually  free  from 


White    Grub,     (L.    rugosa) 


A    June    bug,    adult    of    white    grub,     (Lach- 

nosterna    rugosa,    a),    last    segments 

of    male,    from   beneath 


grubs  the  next  year.     Rotating  with  clover  and  alfalfa  is 
an  effective  means  of  checking  the  grubs. 

The  1913  report  of  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  places  the  damage  from  white  grubs  in  Iowa, 
Wisconsin  and  Illinois  at  $7,000,000  during  the  year  1912. 


INSECTS  ATTACKING  THE  STALK 

Cutworms:  There  are  a  number  of  species  of  cutworms, 
all  of  which  are  more  or  less  troublesome  to  the  farmer. 
They  are  mostly  clumsy  and  greasy-looking  caterpillars  of 


136 


PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 


a  grayish  or  brownish  color  and  from  one  to  two  inches  long. 
The  cutworm  works  mostly  at  night  and  during  cloudy 
weather  and  stays  in  its  hiding  place  on  bright  days. 


Glassy   Cutworm    (Hadina   devastrix) 

It  works  its  injury  to  the  corn  by  cutting  off  the  young 
plant  just  above  the  ground.  The  adults  of  cutworms  are 
moths. 


Adult  of  Glassy  Cutworm 


Late  fall  plowing  is  almost  a  sure  remedy  since  the  cut- 
worm is  thrown  on  the  surface  and  exposed  to  freezing 
weather.  At  this  time  of  year  the  worm  is  in  the  dormant 
state  and  is  unable  to  burrow  back  into  the  ground. 


INSECT  ENEMIES  AND  PLANT  DISEASES    137 

A  method  which  we  have  found  very  effective  in  exter- 
minating cutworms  on  our  own  fields  is  to  work  the  ground 
at  such  frequent  intervals  in  the  spring  that  every  particle 
of  vegetation  is  destroyed.  If  no  "plant  growth  is  allowed 
to  start  during  April  the  greater  portion  of  the  cutworms 
will  be  killed  by  starvation.  This  insect  cannot  withstand 
hot  weather  with  no  green  vegetation  to  feed  upon. 

Fortunately  these  worms  have  many  natural  enemies; 
among  them  are  the  quail,  robin,  thrush  and  other  birds, 
which  together  keep  their  numbers  down  to  a  considerable 
extent.  These  birds  are  among  the  best  friends  the  farmer 
has  and  should  be  protected  in  every  way  possible.  There 
are  many  other  insects  which  attack  the  stalk  and  ear  but 
the  limitations  of  this  book  will  not  permit  of  their 
description. 

PLANT  DISEASES 

Ear  Rot:  This  is  a  mold  and  belongs  to  the  great  group 
of  plants  called  fungi.  The  ear  rot  is  whitish  or  pinkish  in 
appearance  and  in  many  cases  the  husks  and  silks  are 
cemented  to  the  ear.  The  affected  parts  have  lost  their  sub- 
stance and  are  light  in  weight  and  brittle  in  appearance. 

It  is  not  definitely  known  how  ear  rot  is  caused,  but  it  is 
generally  conceded  that  moisture  and  temperature  have  con- 
siderable to  do  with  it.  "We  are  of  the  opinion  that  dry 
weather  in  the  fall  followed  by  several  weeks  of  warm  wet 
weather  are  ideal  conditions  for  the  spreading  of  this  dis- 
ease. "We  had  such  a  season  as  this  in  the  fall  of  1911, 
which  was  the  year  when  dry  rot  wrought  its  greatest  damage 
in  central  Illinois.  "When  the  weather  conditions  are  not  so 
favorable  the  disease  seems  to  be  confined  to  the  very  tip 
of  the  ear,  in  which  case  the  damage  is  very  slight. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  loss  to  the  corn  crop  in  the  United 


138  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 

States  from  this  disease  must  sometimes  amount  to  at  least 
$25,000,000  in  one  year. 

Remedy:  Since  the  spores  live  through  the  winter  on  the 
old  corn  stalks  some  authorities  urge  the  farmer  to  burn 
the  old  stalks.  It  is  our  opinion,  however,  that  the  stalks 
turned  under  will  be  a  greater  benefit  to  the  land  than  the 
injury  due  to  the  ear  rot  will  be  to  the  crop.  Since  the  ear 
rot  does  not  attack  any  other  crop  than  corn  it  is  better  to 
put  the  field  in  some  other  crop  and  the  corn  on  new  ground 
if  the  field  was  badly  affected  with  the  disease  the  year  before. 

Smut:  Besides  ear  rot,  smut  is  the  only  other  disease 
which  injures  corn  to  any  extent.  Smut  in  appearance  is 
greenish  white  or  black  and  is  usually  noticed  on  the  green 
stalk  or  leaf.  Smut  grows  very  rapidly  and  sometimes  forms 
balls  four  inches  in  diameter.  These  balls  are  composed  of 
millions  of  plants  which  are  individually  too  small  to  be  seen 
with  the  naked  eye.  While  infection  may  be  brought  about 
directly  by  the  spore  alighting  on  the  corn  plant  it  is  chiefly 
due  to  the  conidia  which  are  the  result  of  the  spore  germi- 
nating in  manure  or  heavily  manured  soil.  While  corn  smut 
is  abundant  all  over  the  United  States,  it  seems  that  the 
injury  in  any  one  field  is  never  great.  Every  year  we  see 
more  or  less  smut  in  our  own  fields,  but  we  have  never 
known  a  field  to  be  injured  as  much  as  one  per  cent. 

It  is  claimed  by  many  farmers  that  smut  is  injurious  to 
cattle  and  horses  and  that  it  is  the  cause  of  the  corn-stalk 
disease.  In  order  to  prove  or  disprove  this  opinion  the 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  has  carried  on  a  number  of 
experiments  in  feeding  smut  to  cattle  and  horses.  The  results 
of  these  experiments  show  that  there  are  no  injurious  effects 
produced  by  feeding  smut.  The  best  way  to  kill  smut  is  to 
cut  out  and  burn  the  diseased  stalks,  but  this  will  not  pre- 
vent its  reappearance  unless  it  is  practiced  over  a  large 
territory. 


INSECT  ENEMIES  AND  PLANT  DISEASES     139 

ROTATION,    CAREFUL   PREPARATION   OF   THE   SEED   BED  AND 

THOROUGH  CULTURE  ARE  THE  BEST  MEANS  OF 

PREVENTING  INSECTS  AND  DISEASES 

We  stated  in  the  chapter  on  "Rotation  of  Crops"  that 
crop  rotation  was  worth  more  than  all  other  methods  com- 
bined in  checking  insect  enemies  and  plant  diseases.  "We 
want  to  repeat  here  that  the  greater  part  of  the  injury  result- 
ing from  insects  and  diseases  attacking  corn  can  be  traced 
directly  to  the  continuous  cropping  of  corn  year  after  year. 
The  methods  we  have  used  in  checking  these  pests  on  our 
own  farms  are  crop  rotation,  thorough  and  clean  culture, 
and  in  some  cases  fall  plowing  and  pasturing  with  hogs. 
Various  insecticides  are  practical  and  helpful  to  the  gardener 
and  orchardist,  but  in  our  opinion  they  are  rather  too  expen- 
sive for  the  Corn  Belt  farmer.  Farmers  by  co-operation  can 
often  accomplish  more  than  they  could  by  individual  efforts. 
All  toads,  most  of  the  snakes  and  birds,  and  many  of  the  in- 
sects are  the  farmers'  friends,  and  should  be  protected  in 
every  way  possible. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS 

"No  man  Tcnows  all  there  is  to  be  known  about  farm- 
ing— let  us  all  get  together  and  learn  from  each  other." 

From  the  above  quotation  we  received  the  inspiration  to 
write  to  thirty-five  of  the  best  farmers  in  the  Corn  Belt  and 
ask  them  to  give  us  the  benefit  of  their  experience  as  corn 
growers.  The  thirty  letters  on  the  following  pages  are  the 
result  of  our  investigation.  It  was  necessary,  because  of 
the  lack  of  space,  to  condense  some  of  the  letters  but  in  no 
case  have  we  taken  anything  from  these  letters  because  it 
advocated  a  practice  contrary  to  our  own. 

Some  of  these  methods  of  culture  described  are  different 
from  our  own  ideas  but  we  are  firmly  convinced  that  the 
letters  taken  as  a  whole  advocate  a  practical,  thorough  cul- 
ture and  represent  the  methods  employed  by  the  best  farmers 
in  the  different  parts  of  the  Corn  Belt. 

"We  want  to  thank,  sincerely,  our  farmer  friends  who  took 
the  time  to  send  us  these  splendid  letters  telling  how  they 
grow  corn.  From  some  of  the  letters  we  have  received  some 
valuable  suggestions  which  we  expect  to  test  out  next  spring 
and  summer. 

Experience  is  surely  the  best  teacher  and  for  this  reason 
we  have  tried  to  eliminate  theory  and  make  this  book  a 
book  of  corn  experience.  How  well  we  have  succeeded  must 
be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  reader. 

140 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     141 

Larehland,  Illinois. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — Our  soil  is  heavy,  rich  and  level.  I  plow  what  ground 
I  can  in  the  fall  and  the  rest  in  the  spring,  and  it  is  plowed  as  deep 
as  the  team  can  pull  the  plow.  It  should  be  plowed  eight  to  ten 
inches  deep. 

All  stalks  are  cut  and  turned  under  in  order  to  add  humus  to  the 
soil.  As  soon  as  the  ground  is  plowed  in  the  spring  it  is  harrowed 
and  later  it  is  worked  into  a  seed  bed  with  the  harrow  and  disc. 

I  use  weeders  both  before  and  after  the  corn  is  up  in  preference 
to  the  harrow. 

I  start  plowing  corn  when  it  is  from  two  to  six  inches  tall.  The 
first  time  over  I  cultivate  deep,  but  later  cultivations  are  shallower.  I 
cultivate  the  corn  all  I  have  time  to,  which,  of  course,  varies  with  dif- 
ferent seasons.  The  cultivation  is  always  continued  until  the  corn  is 
BO  tall  it  begins  to  break  under  the  arch  of  the  cultivator. 

I  shall  look  forward  to  receiving  your  book  on  "Practical  Corn 
Culture."  Very  respectfully  yours, 

H.  KALLISTA. 


Arcola,  Illinois,  April  9th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs: — I  am  writing  in  answer  to  your  letter  to  give  you  my 
experience  as  a  corn  grower. 

Our  soil  is  a  black,  heavy  loam  and  is  very  level;  in  fact,  it  is  so 
level  that  it  is  necessary  to  survey  before  laying  tile. 

We  think  our  soil  is  the  cream  of  the  Corn  Belt,  at  least  that  is 
what  the  wise  men  at  Champaign  tell  us. 

I  prefer  to  have  my  corn  ground  plowed  in  the  fall  and  usually 
succeed  in  getting  all  the  sod  and  pasture  plowed  at  that  time.  I  am 
fully  convinced  that  fall  plowing  should  be  at  least  six  inches  deep. 

Since  the  stalks  add  humus  I  prefer  to  cut  them  and  turn  them 
under.  If  the  tenant  farmer  is  not  equipped  with  implements  for  cut- 
ting the  stalks  he  had  better  burn  them,  where  corn  follows  corn,  since 
they  will  be  in  the  way  of  cultivation. 

If  the  ground  is  packed  we  use  the  disc,  if  freshly  plowed  the 
spike-tooth  harrow  in  preparing  the  seed  bed.  We  usually  harrow 
ground  just  after  plowing.  I  consider  all  work  on  the  seed  bed  time 
well  spent. 


142  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 


We  plant  with  a  check-rower  planter  three  feet  four  inches  each 
way.  When  three  to  four  inches  high  the  corn  is  cultivated  about 
three  inches  deep. 

The  small  shovels  are  used  for  the  first  two  plowings  and  for  the 
later  cultivating  the  surface  cultivator.  The  last  plowing  is  not  over 
two  inches  deep.  We  cultivate  from  three  to  four  times,  depending 
on  the  season.  The  corn  is  plowed  until  it  is  so  tall  it  breaks  badly. 
If  the  season  is  dry  we  drag  between  the  rows  with  a  planter  wheel, 
single  harrow  or  one-horse  cultivator. 

Eespectfully  yours, 

JOSEPH  COMBS. 

P.  S. — We  are  experimenting  with  alfalfa  in  a  small  way. 


Weldon,  Illinois,  April  28th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen : — Our  soil,  a  deep,  retentive  loam,  is  heavy  and  level.  All 
stalks  are  of  necessity  plowed  in  the  spring. 

I  do  not  believe  in  burning  stalks.  The  soil  needs  all  the  humus 
that  can  be  put  back  on  it.  Turning  stalks  under  helps  to  keep  the 
ground  loose. 

In  working  plowed  ground  down,  we  use  the  spike  tooth  harrow 
and  disc.  All  ground  plowed  the  day  before  is  harrowed  down  the 
next  morning. 

The  corn  is  planted  with  a  check  rower  planter  and  is  checked 
three  feet  six  inches  one  way  and  three  feet  four  inches  the  other. 

The  corn  is  always  harrowed  before  it  comes  up  and  after  if  it  is 
necessary  to  kill  the  weeds. 

I  start  cultivating  the  corn  when  it  is  about  four  inches  tall. 
Surface  cultivators  are  used  altogether,  and  they  are  run  just  deep 
enough  to  cut  off  and  cover  all  weeds.  We  cultivate  from  three  to 
four  times  and  lay  by  when  the  corn  is  from  three  to  four  feet  tall. 

In  preparing  the  seed  bed  I  use  an  iron  corrugated  roller  to  ad- 
vantage if  there  are  many  clods.  I  consider  the  corrugated  roller  one 
of  the  best  implements  on  the  farm. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

S.  MILLER. 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     143 


TJnionville,  Mo.,   April   20th,    1913. 
Messrs.  W.  T.  Ainsworth  £  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — I  am  of  the  opinion  that,  but  few  farmers  realize  the 
importance  of  the  properly  prepared  seed  bed,  and  a  good  many  who 
do  realize  it,  do  not  put  it  into  practice.  Many  of  us  make  noble 
resolutions  in  December  but  fail  to  carry  them  out  in  May.  I  have 
seen  many  farmers  plow  sod  in  the  spring,  disc  and  harrow  once, 
and  plant  twice,  (the  first  planting  did  not  come  up),  with  the  natural 
result  that  the  corn-pens  were  slim  in  the  fall. 

I  know  of  a  farmer  who  did  not  work  sod  ground  this  last  year, 
until  time  to  plant.  His  reasons  were,  that  the  season  had  been  wet 
the  year  before  and  the  plowed  ground  was  better  if  left  alone.  But 
this  season  was  dry,  with  the  results  that  this  field  on  sod  made  only 
ten  bushels  per  acre.  It  is  always  safe  to  work  sod  ground  down, 
and  the  drier  the  season  is,  the  more  work  will  be  needed,  and  the 
better  the  work  will  pay.  Sod  should  be  disced  from  two  to  four  times, 
depending  on  its  toughness.  I  disced  one  field  four  times  this  year, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  paid  me.  I  use  the  disc  and  harrow 
in  preference  to  the  drag.  If  the  ground  is  not  too  wet,  I  harrow  the 
corn  after  it  is  planted.  It  pays  to  buy  good  seed  corn  of  a  reliable 
breeder.  PEAEL  FIFE. 

Mr.  Fife  is  a  breeder  of  pure  bred  O.  I.  C.  SWINE. 

Atoka,  Oklahoma,  April  22nd,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — I  am  somewhat  surprised  and  pleased  to  see  that 
Illinois  farmers  ask  advice  from  an  Oklahoma  farmer  in  regard  to 
growing  corn.  The  methods  I  follow  would  not  be  well  suited  to 
Illinois  conditions,  but  they  are  practiced  by  the  most  enterprising 
farmers  in  all  sections  when  there  is  a  deficiency  of  rainfall. 

As  soon  as  the  corn  is  gathered  the  stalks  are  cut  and  the  ground 
listed  up  with  a  fourteen-inch  lister  and  subsoiled  with  a  long,  shallow 
plow.  After  plowing,  the  ground  should  be  let  alone  until  spring. 

When  I  am  ready  to  plant  in  the  spring  I  relist,  subsoil  and  plant. 

For  the  first  cultivation  I  use  four  long  calf-tongue  plows  and 
plow  good  and  deep.  The  next  plowing  I  use  shovel  plows.  I  lay  by 
with  a  disc  cultivator  when  the  corn  is  about  waist  high. 

Yours  truly,  DUTCH  JONES. 

10 


144  PRACTICAL    CORN    CULTURE 


Luray,  Mo.,  April  19,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs: — Yours  of  recent  date  received  in  regard  to  corn  raising. 
I  have  a  light  rolling  soil  which  I  plow  in  the  spring  if  it  is  stalk 
ground.  I  think  spring  plowing  will  produce  a  bigger  crop  than  fall 
plowing,  since  the  ground  does  not  run  together  badly.  Since  this  is 
a  shallow  soil  I  generally  plow  about  four  inches  deep.  I  never  burn 
stalks  when  corn  follows  corn,  but  drag  them  down  and  plow  them 
under,  since  they  prevent  the  soil  from  washing  on  rolling  land  and 
help  to  keep  up  the  fertility.  I  use  split  log  drags  and  tooth  harrows 
for  working  the  ground  down  after  plowing.  I  plow  all  the  ground 
that  I  plant  to  corn  before  planting  any,  usually  drag  or  harrow  the 
ground  twice  before  planting,  and  then  harrow  after  planting  before 
it  comes  up.  I  never  harrow  corn  after  it  is  up.  The  corn  is  usually 
three  or  four  inches  tall  when  I  cultivate  it  the  first  time.  I  use 
six-shovel  cultivators  and  I  consider  them  the  best,  all  things  considered. 
I  cultivate  three  times  and  the  corn  is  usually  from  two  to  three  feet 
tall  when  I  lay  it  by.  Yours  truly, 

A.    L.    PORTEE. 

Kentland,  Indiana,  April  12th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — The  soil  in  this  community  is  a  black  loam,  with  just 
a  little  sand.  It  is  nearly  level,  and  well  drained. 

I  generally  plow  my  oats  stubble  in  the  fall.  I  try  to  plow  be- 
tween seven  and  eight  inches,  and  not  lay  the  furrows  too  flat,  as  this 
ground  has  a  tendency  to  run  together.  I  like  early  plowing  as  it  is 
generally  dry  and  plows  up  lumpy,  so  that  when  the  time  comes  to 
prepare  it  for  corn,  it  is  mellow,  and  works  up  fine. 

In  the  spring  as  soon  as  the  oats  are  sowed  I  take  the  spreader 
and  top  dress  all  the  spots  that  I  know  to  be  thin.  As  soon  as  the 
manure  is  spread,  I  start  my  solid-wheel  disc,  generally  crosswise,  the 
way  it  was  plowed.  Just  as  soon  as  I  get  it  disced  once,  I  change 
to  the  spader  and  go  the  long  way,  and  follow  with  the  harrow.  This 
puts  the  ground  in  fine  shape,  if  we  have  an  average  season,  but  I 
found  it  necessary  to  disc  my  ground  four  times  last  year,  and  I  am 
sure  it  paid.  I  generally  follow  about  a  day  being  the  harrow  with  my 
corn  planter.  This  gives  the  top  of  the  ground  time  to  dry  off,  and 
you  don't  have  to  use  scrapers  on  your  planter.  I  aim  to  plant  two 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS    145 


grains  to  the  hill,  and  three  by  six  each  way.  As  soon  as  I  finish 
planting,  I  harrow  the  field  crosswise,  and  as  soon  as  the  corn  begins 
to  come  up,  I  harrow  it  the  other  way.  I  do  not  wait  for  the  corn 
to  get  a  given  height,  but  put  in  my  eight-shovel  eagle  claw  cultivator 
and  walk,  as  I  don't  believe  a  man  can  do  as  good  a  job  riding.  I 
believe  if  you  do  not  get  up  to  the  corn  the  first  and  second  times 
and  get  the  weeds  out  of  the  hills,  you  will  have  weeds  in  the  fall. 
In  this  section  of  the  Corn  Belt,  the  use  of  all  surface  plows,  from  the 
first,  I  think  is  a  mistake,  since  the  rains  beat  the  ground  down,  and 
it  requires  the  shovel  plow  to  loosen  it.  The  small  cultivator  gives 
you  plenty  of  mulch  so  that  when  you  use  your  gophers  you  can  do  a 
good  job.  I  use  Tower  Surface  Plows  the  last  three  times.  I  always 
run  them  deep  enough,  so  that  there  will  be'  loose  dirt  falling  over 
the  shovels  at  all  times.  If  you  don't  do  this  you  are  bound  to  have 
weeds  between  the  rows.  The  last  plowing  the  corn  ought  to  be  about 
four  feet  high  and  I  run  my  shovels  just  deep  enough  to  get  the  dirt 
up  to  the  corn,  and  I  figure  on  getting  it  layed  by  about  the  4th  of 
July.  HENEY  DUTTENHAVEE, 

E.  F.  D.  No.  1,  Kentland,  Indiana. 

Wheatland,  Indiana,  April  14th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — I  will  give  you  my  experience  as  a  farmer  on  corn 
culture. 

PREPARATION  OF  SEED  BED  FOR  CORN 

Soil:  My  soil  is  what  is  known  as  white  oak  ri^ge  soil,  a  mixture 
between  clay  and  loam,  which  will  produce  most  any  kind  of  grain 
and  hay.  It  is  somewhat  rolling,  which  forms  a  natural  drainage. 

I  think  the  best  time  to  plow  stalk  ground  is  in  the  spring,  because 
freezing  and  thawing  injure  fall  plowed  soils  in  our  locality.  We 
always  strive  to  build  up  our  soil  in  every  way  possible  for  the  production 
of  a  bountiful  harvest.  I  have  always  had  better  success  growing  crops 
on  spring  plowed  stalk  ground  than  on  fall  plowed. 

I  plow  six  or  seven  inches  deep  for  corn,  and  would  prefer  twelve 
inches  if  I  had  the  power  to  do  the  work.  By  plowing  deep,  you  have 
a  deep  soil  which  is  necessary  for  a  good  corp  of  corn.  The  old 
adage,  "Plow  deep  while  sluggards  sleep  and  you  will  have  corn  to 
sell  and  to  keep,"  is  certainly  true. 


146       PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


Fanner  friends,  don't  burn  your  cornstalks  or  your  straw,  both 
are  very  valuable.  Take  your  disc  harrow  and  cut  your  stalks  and  see 
how  nicely  they  will  plow  under,  by  using  a  jointer  on  your  plow. 
We  always  plow  the  cornstalks  under,  because  they  are  of  great  benefit 
to  the  soil,  by  making  it  loose  and  porous,  so  the  air  can  penetrate 
and  restore  the  plant  food  properties. 

The  implements  used  in  preparing  the  seed  bed  depends  largely  on 
the  weather  conditions.  If  the  ground  has  become  packed,  use  a  disc 
harrow,  then,  if  dry  and  cloddy,  a  drag  or  roller  should  be  used, 
followed  by  a  section  harrow.  Sometimes  two  or  three  harrowings  are 
necessary,  and  if  weather  conditions  indicate  dry  weather,  I  run  a  light 
drag  before  the  planter,  if  not  I  plant  after  the  harrow.  I  never 
prefer  working  down  early  plowed  ground,  because  it  becomes  more 
or  less  compact  and  requires  more  work  to  make  a  good  seed  bed. 

I  plant  my  corn  with  a  "Black  Hawk"  corn  planter  (the  drill 
type),  using  furrowing  shovels  or  eveners  to  regulate  the  depth  of  the 
corn,  and  by  using  good  seed  corn  I  am  almost  sure  of  a  good  stand 
of  corn. 

If  it  comes  a  heavy  rain  immediately  after  planting,  I  use  a  section 
harrow  before  the  corn  comes  up;  this  breaks  the  crust,  and  thus 
prevents  the  tender  corn  from  crooking  and  losing  most  of  its  vitality. 
After  the  corn  has  all  come  up  in  good  shape,  and  the  weather  is  dry, 
I  start  the  roller,  which  pulverizes  all  remaining  clods,  then  a  section 
harrow  is  used,  which  leaves  the  ground  in  a  very  fine  condition. 

If  possible  I  like  for  my  corn  to  be  three  or  four  inches  high  for 
the  first  cultivation,  at  which  time  I  cultivate  about  four  inches  deep  and 
as  close  as  possible.  This  stirs  the  soil  well  around  the  corn-roots  and 
starts  it  to  growing.  I  use  a  six-shovel  cultivator  for  all  the  cultiva- 
tions excepting  the  last,  for  which  time  I  prefer  the  disc  cultivator.  I 
consider  this  implement  the  best  for  the  last  cultivation. 

I  set  the  disc  next  to  the  corn  very  shallow  and  far  enough  apart 
to  plow  all  of  the  middle.  By  cultivating  about  two  inches  deep,  this 
method  will  make  a  nice,  loose  mulch  of  soil  for  the  corn-roots  to  get  their 
nourishment  from. 

I  cultivate  as  many  times  as  the  corn  will  permit  the  use  of  a 
cultivator,  then  if  the  weather  is  dry  I  use  a  one-horse  harrow  to  keep 
up  the  action  of  the  moisture. 

If  the  farmers  of  this  country  would  be  more  careful  in  selecting 
their  seed  corn  the  yield  would  be  much  better. 

A.  H.  MYERS. 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     147 

Arthur,   Illinois,   April   15th,   1913. 
Mr.  W.  T.  Ainsworth,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sir: — The  farm  I  am  farming  is  gently  rolling,  and  the  soil 
is  a  brown  silt  loam.  I  have  obtained  the  best  results  by  plowing  sods 
in  the  fall,  but  when  corn  follows  corn  I  have  found,  from  experience, 
that  the  biggest  crops  can  be  raised  from  spring  plowing. 

I  am  firmly  convinced  that  the  burning  of  stalks  is  a  bad  practice, 
since  it  robs  the  land  of  nitrogen  and  humus.  Before  plowing,  I 
double  disc  all  the  stalkfields,  with  a  Janesville  spading  disc.  I  plow 
from  six  to  seven  inches  deep,  and  the  early  plowed  ground  is  allowed 
to  stand  until  after  heavy  rains,  before  any  further  work  is  done  to  it. 
For  the  later  plowed  ground,  I  use  a  rotary  harrow  on  the  plow.  This 
pulverizes  the  soil  and  levels  it  up  as  it  is  plowed.  Each  day's  plowing 
is  again  harrowed  down  in  the  evening,  when  it  is  allowed  to  stand 
until  nearly  planting  time. 

After  the  corn  is  planted,  it  is  rolled  and  harrowed  and  left  until 
the  plants  are  about  four  inches  tall,  when  it  is  cultivated  about  four 
inches  deep  with  a  shovel  plow.  For  the  next  two  or  three  plowings 
I  use  a  surface  cultivator  and  get  over  my  corn  as  many  times  as  I 
possibly  can.  I  lay  my  corn  by  when  it  is  from  three  to  four  feet 
tall.  In  closing  I  want  to  say  that  I  consider  the  spading  disc  one  of 
the  best  implements  on  the  farm.  LEWIS  D.  YUTZY. 

Mr.  Yutzy  is  a  stock  raiser,  as  well  as  a  farmer. 

Laurel,  Iowa,  April  10th,  1913. 
Messrs.  W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — The  nature  of  my  soil  is  a  black  loam  with  clay  sub- 
soil, nothing  better  for  the  growing  of  corn.  I  do  not  like  fall  plowing 
for  stalk  ground,  since  the  winter  and  spring  rains  pack  it  so  badly 
that  it  requires  more  work  to  get  it  in  shape  in  the  spring  than  it  does 
when  the  plowing  is  allowed  to  go  until  spring.  I  believe  that  spring 
plowing  of  stalk  ground  will  bring  larger  yields  than  will  fall  plowing. 

I  break  the  stalks  down,  rake  them  up  and  burn  them.  I  next  run 
a  good  sharp  disc  diagonally  across  the  field  and  harrow.  This  leaves 
the  ground  level,  makes  the  plowing  easier  and  leaves  the  field  in  much 
better  shape  than  where  the  discing  is  not  done  before  plowing. 

I  harrow  each  evening  what  I  plow  during  the  day.  When  I  get 
ready  to  plant  I  harrow  the  field  once  or  twice,  according  to  the  shape 


148  PRACTICAL    CORN   CULTURE 


the  ground  is  in.     I  run  the  disc  directly  ahead  of  the  planter.     With 
an  average  season  this  method  gives  me  a  good  seed  bed. 

I  plant  three  feet  eight  inches  by  three  feet  six  inches,  and  drop 
three  grains  to  the  hill.  The  corn  is  planted  deep  enough  to  place  it 
in  moist  ground.  I  harrow  as  soon  as  the  corn  is  planted  and  again 
after  it  is  about  through  the  ground.  I  seldom  harrow  corn  after  it  is 
all  up,  since  a  number  of  hills  are  broken  off  and  otherwise  injured. 
I  use  a  surface  cultivator  altogether  and  use  the  drags  or  floats  the 
first  time  over.  I  cultivate  from  four  to  five  times,  depending  on  the 
condition  of  the  soil.  I  consider  the  surface  cultivator  the  best.  It 
holds  the  moisture  better  and  if  it  is  properly  set  it  will  move  every 
inch  of  the  surface  soil.  I  plow  my  corn  until  it  is  so  tall  that  I 
cannot  get  through  the  field  without  injuring  it. 

Yours  for  success,  C.  C.  PAUL. 

Mr.  Paul  is  a  grower  of  pure  bred  Chester  White  Hogs. 

Pimento,  Indiana,  April  llth,  1913. 
Mr.   W.   T.  Ainsworth,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sir: — Our  land  is  a  heavy,  cold  clay  and  very  level.  We 
always  plow  the  stalks  under  in  the  spring,  since  it  makes  the  ground 
looser,  adds  fertility  and  makes  the  crop  more  easily  tended.  The 
ground  is  broken  six  to  seven  inches  deep.  Our  method  of  working  the 
ground  depends  entirely  on  the  season.  On  dry,  cloddy  ground  we  use 
a  wood  drag,  on  nice  loose  soil,  a  harrow,  and  on  sod,  a  disc  harrow. 

We  get  our  ground  level  and  smooth  before  planting,  and  plant 
from  two  to  two  and  one-half  inches  deep.  If  the  weather  is  dry,  we 
harrow  before  the  corn  comes  up.  If  it  is  wet  we  leave  the  field  alone 
until  we  can  plow  the  corn,  which  is  done  as  soon  as  it  is  possible  to 
plow  and  not  cover  the  hills.  We  cultivate  from  two  to  three  inches 
deep  straight  through  the  season.  We  use  disc  cultivators  altogether, 
and  consider  them  the  best  in  our  soil.  We  cultivate  three  to  four 
times,  and  stay  with  it  until  the  corn  is  too  tall  to  plow  with  cultivators. 

E,  F.  D.  No.  1.  GEOBGE  M.  CUTINGEE. 

Girard,  Pa.,  April  28th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — In. answer  to  yours  of  recent  date,  as  to  culture  of  corn 
will  say  that  for  corn  I  prefer  a  one-year-old  clover  sod  which  has  been 
manured  the  previous  winter  and  plowed  as  early  as  possible  after  oats 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     149 


seeding.  The  ground  should  be  plowed  to  a  depth  of  about  six  inches, 
rolling  down  every  evening  what  has  been  plowed  that  day  and  follow- 
ing up  with  a  spring-tooth  harrow  or  disc  pulverizer.  The  field  should 
be  gone  over  with  these  implements  until  a  perfect  seed  bed  is  obtained. 
I  use  a  light  roller  immediately  before  planting  and  follow  with  a 
two-horse  planter  with  an  open  wheel  planting  about  twelve  inches  for 
silo  and  sixteen  inches  for  husking. 

The  third  day  after  planting  I  use  a  smoothing  harrow  with  teeth 
set  slanting  and  go  over  the  field  again  about  the  sixth  or  seventh  day 
after  the  corn  has  the  second  leaf.  Next  I  use  a  flat-tooth  round  point 
weeder,  going  over  the  field  about  twice  or  until  the  corn  is  large  enough 
to  use  a  two-horse  cultivator  with  shields  to  keep  dirt  from  rolling  on 
the  corn.  I  follow  the  first  plowing  with  the  weeder,  running  cross- 
ways,  after  which  I  cultivate  about  three  times  more  during  season  with 
the  shields  removed  from  the  cultivator.  The  first  cultivation  may  be 
about  three  inches  deep,  after  that  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  inches 
is  deep  enough.  I  also  use  from  two  to  three  hundred  pounds  of 
fertilizer  analyzing  about  1 — 8 — 4.  We  harvest  with  a  corn  binder 
previous  to  silo  filling,  leaving  it  lay  as  the  machine  drops  it  for  two 
days.  If  it  is  husked  it  is  set  up  in  shocks  a  second  or  third  day 
after  it  is  cut.  In  our  latitude  we  like  to  plant  between  the  twentieth 
of  May  and  the  first  of  June,  if  corn  is  put  into  the  silo. 

Yours  truly,  JOHN  A.  BAUSCH. 

Mr.  Bausch  makes  a  speciality  of  selling  butter,  eggs  and  pork 
direct  to  the  consumer. 

Greenfork,  Indiana,  April  15th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs: — In  this  community  most  of  the  land  is  a  white  and  red 
clay,  except  where  the  ravines  course  along,  but  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  black  ground,  too.  The  land  lays  practically  level,  although  nearer 
the  river  it  is  a  little  rolling. 

I  do  not  plow  my  stalk  ground  at  all  in  the  fall  and  do  not  want 
much  for  spring  plowing  if  it  can  be  helped.  With  the  exception  of 
new  land  we  follow  mostly  a  rotation  of  corn,  wheat  and  clover.  I  like 
to  plow  my  ground  five  to  six  inches  deep.  If  I  had  the  machinery 
I  would  always  cut  the  cornstalks  and  plow  them  under,  because  I 
believe  it  would  loosen  and  enrich  the  land;  as  it  is  I  find  it  necessary 


150       PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


to  burn  them.  I  use  the  spring-tooth  harrow  on  sod  ground  for  the 
first  harrowing,  then  follow  with  spike-tooth  harrow  until  I  get  the 
ground  in  condition  to  plant  corn. 

The  corn  is  planted  two  to  three  inches  deep.  I  like  the  idea  of 
harrowing  the  corn  before  it  comes  up,  but  I  could  never  get  accustomed 
to  harrowing  after  it  has  once  come  up.  The  harrow  teeth  drag  out 
too  many  hills  of  corn. 

I  don't  think  it  practical  to  plow  very  deep  for  the  first  cultiva- 
tion. By  the  way,  I  do  not  think  much  of  deep  cultivation  at  any 
time.  I  like  the  shovel  cultivator  the  best  of  any  I  have  ever  tried. 

I  always  plow  my  corn  at  least  three  times  and  a  fourth  cultiva- 
tion is  very  good  if  one  has  the  time.  Most  of  the  corn  in  this  com- 
munity is  fed  to  hogs  with  the  result  that  the  land  is  getting  more 
fertile  each  year. 

I  shall  be  very  glad  to  get  your  book  on  corn  culture. 
Yours  truly,  . 

HEEBEET  H.  HOWAED. 


Oblong,  Illinois,  April   15th,   1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — As  I  have  received  a  request  to  give  my  experience 
in  growing  corn,  I  will  endeavor  to  answer  as  best  I  can. 

Soil:  The  soil  I  am  farming  at  the  present  time  is  of  the  heavy 
kind,  such  as  is  most  of  the  land  in  this  section  that  was  timbered 
with  water  oak  hickory  and  white  oak. 

I  am  located  in  St.  Marie  Township,  Jasper  County,  east  of  St. 
Marie,  near  the  east  line.  This  land  is  level  and  not  the  best  for  wet 
seasons. 

I  do  all  my  plowing  in  the  spring,  since  fall  plowing  will  pack  too 
much  and  the  weeds  would  start  before  time  to  plant.  Spring  plowing 
is  always  best  for  my  kind  of  soil,  since  it  should  be  dry  and  not 
have  too  much  rain  after  plowing.  I  plow  my  ground  about  four  to 
six  inches  deep  and  aim  to  leave  some  of  the  top  soil  undisturbed. 
Following  corn  I  always  use  a  stalk  cutter  and  cut  the  stalks  so  that 
they  do  not  interfere  with  cultivation.  Plowing  stalks  under  helps  keep 
the  ground  loose  below  and  gives  it  air.  To  work  ground  down  I  use 
whatever  is  required  to  get  it  in  shape  and  do  good  work.  On  ground 
that  is  rough  and  uneven  I  use  a  drag  to  level,  followed  always  with 
a  harrow,  since  otherwise  it  will  get  weedy  before  the  corn  is  big 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     151 


enough  to  cultivate.  I  always  work  ground  just  before  planting,  so 
that  it  will  be  clean  and  let  the  corn  get  ahead  of  the  weeds.  I  gen- 
erally plant  corn  twenty  inches  apart  in  the  row,  and  the  rows  are 
forty-two  inches  apart.  I  drill  corn  because  we  plow  in  lands  that  con- 
tain from  eight  to  ten  rows.  I  harrow  corn  "before  it  comes  up :  in 
case  the  planting  was  done  in  rough  and  cloddy  ground,  I  harrow  corn 
after  it  is  up,  unless  it  is  big  enough  to  cultivate  before  I  can  use 
the  harrow.  I  want  corn  to  be  about  three  or  three  and  one-half  inches 
high  before  I  cultivate  the  first  time,  as  I  want  to  plow  close  and  deep 
and  cover  all  little  weeds  and  put  just  a  little  dirt  around  the  corn 
I  plow  about  three  inches  deep  and  set  fenders  as  high  as  possible,  to 
allow  some  of  the  dirt  to  drop  around  the  corn  plants. 

When  laying  corn  by  I  plow  deep  enough  to  turn  over  and  clean 
the  row,  but  I  stay  away  from  the  corn  and  take  the  middle  alt  out. 
I  use  shovel  and  disc  plows.  I  always  use  shovels  for  first  plowing. 
The  disc  leaves  too  much  ground  undisturbed  and  the  weeds  grow 
more  quickly  in  the  row  than  where  plowed  with  shovels.  I  consider 
shovels  and  discs  best  for  this  soil,  since  surface  cultivation  leaves  the 
ground  too  hard  after  a  heavy  rain.  I  try  to  cultivate  my  corn  three 
or  four  times  and  do  if  I  am  not  delayed  by  rain  or  other  work.  In 
laying  corn  by  I  have  no  set  height  or  time,  but  plow  when  the  ground 
is  in  good  mellow  condition.  I  often  plow  my  corn  the  last  time 
when  it  is  three  and  four  feet  high.  If  I  am  delayed  by  some  cause 
or  other  I  have  laid  corn  by,  with  good  results,  when  it  was  tasseling 
out.  CHAS.  J.  KEENBE. 

St.  Croix,  Indiana,  April  28th,  1913. 
Messrs.  W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — My  farm  is  located  in  Southern  Indiana  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  Perry  County.  Our  land  is  a  light  clay  loam  soil  and 
inclined  to  be  rolling  while  some  is  level;  too  level.  I  never  follow 
corn  with  corn,  nor  can  anyone  here  and  make  farming  pay. 

I  bought  my  farm  about  twenty-five  years  ago.  At  the  time  I  bought 
it,  it  was  considered  a  run-down  farm  and  would  not  grow  ten  bushels 
of  corn  per  acre.  Today  I  have  no  trouble  in  growing  fifty  to  sixty 
bushels  per  acre.  I  have  brought  this  farm  to  its  present  state  of 
fertility  by  a  rotation  consisting  of  corn  one  year  followed  by  wheat, 
oats  or  cowpeas,  then  with  clover  and  pasture. 

In  this   locality  we  plow  early  in  the   spring  if  the  weather  will 


152  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 


permit,  which  is  very  seldom.  It  is  not  advisable  to  plow  our  hilly 
ground  in  the  fall,  since  it  would  wash  too  badly  during  the  winter  and 
early  spring.  I  think  corn  land  should  be  plowed  from  six  to  nine 
inches  deep,  since  it  holds  the  moisture  better  than  shallow  plowed 
land.  I  usually  cut  the  corn  up  and  feed  the  fodder,  but  if  I  have 
any  stalks  left  I  cut  them  up  and  turn  them  under. 

My  corn  ground  is  usually  a  sod  clover  or  pasture  land.  After 
breaking  I  drag,  then  disc,  drag  again  and  harrow.  The  early  plowed 
fields  are  not  usually  worked  down  until  nearly  planting  time,  but  the. 
late  plowed  fields  should  be  worked  down  as  soon  as  they  are  plowed 
to  keep  the  ground  from  becoming  cloddy  and  to  retain  the  moisture. 

I  like  to  plant  corn  between  the  first  and  tenth  of  May,  but  of  late 
years  spring  rains  have  delayed  planting  until  later.  I  plant  with  a 
two-row  corn  planter,  using  commercial  fertilizer  at  the  rate  of  one 
hundred  pounds  to  the  acre.  Cultivation  should  begin  as  soon  as 
possible  after  the  corn  is  up,  and  I  like  to  harrow  before  the  corn  is 
up,  but  if  it  rains  after  it  is  planted  it  is  generally  up  before  the 
ground  is  dry  enough  to  justify  getting  on  with  the  harrow.  As  soon 
as  the  corn  is  up  I  go  over  it  with  the  harrow  once  and  sometimes 
twice.  When  the  corn  is  about  three  inches  high  I  commence  cultivat- 
ing with  a  two-horse  cultivator.  I  plow  deep  the  first  and  second  times 
over;  setting  the  cultivator  so  that  it  will  not  throw  much  dirt  to  the 
corn.  The  later  cultivations  are  shallow.  I  always  follow  the  cultivator 
with  a  one-horse  harrow  which  runs  between  the  rows,  here  we  use  the 
shovels  since  the  disc  leaves  too  uneven  a  surface.  I  always  try  to 
leave  the  surface  level  after  each  cultivation.  I  cultivate  from  four  to 
six  times,  or  as  often  as  the  weather  will  permit.  T.  B.  LYONS. 

Buckley,  Illinois,  April  9th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — In  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  8th  inst.,  I  will  give 
you  my  method  of  preparing  ground  for  corn.  For  several  years  past 
I  have  been  sowing  from  forty  to  eighty  acres  with  clover  in  oats.  I 
let  the  clover  stand  until  the  second  year  to  enable  it  to  make  the 
necessary  root  growth  from  which  a  large  part  of  the  benefit  to  the 
soil  is  obtained.  If  there  is  not  much  seed  in  the  second  crop  of  clover, 
I  plow  it  under  to  enrich  the  land.  I  prefer  fall  plowing  of  clover 
sod  in  preference  to  waiting  until  after  oats  sowing  is  over.  In  the 
spring  I  go  over  the  fall  plowed  ground  with  a  disc,  cutting  full  depth. 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     153 


This  loosens  and  mellows  the  soil  besides  letting  in  warmth.  It  will 
also  start  the  first  crop  of  weeds  to  growing.  About  the  tenth  of 
May  I  go  over  the  ground  again  with  the  disc  and  kill  all  these 
sprouted  weeds.  I  now  give  the  field  one  or  two  good  harrowings  and 
plant.  The  corn  is  always  harrowed  again  before  it  is  up.  In  pre- 
paring stalk  ground  I  prefer  to  plow  it  in  the  fall,  but  one  seldom 
gets  this  chance.  By  all  means  leave  the  stalks  to  be  plowed  under. 
Why?  Because  anything  that  will  decay  in  the  soil  makes  humus  and 
humus  is  what  we  need  to  keep  our  soil  loose  and  mellow.  My  method 
of  getting  rid  of  the  stalks  is  to  go  over  the  ground  both  ways 
with  a  disc.  This  cuts  the  stalks  up  and  also  makes  a  mulch  of  loose 
soil  to  have  on  the  underside  of  your  furrow  slice.  Disc  your  soil 
again  after  the  plow  before  the  clods  have  time  to  dry  and  you  will 
have  no  clods,  since  the  furrow  slice  has  been  completely  pulvemed. 
For  spring  plowing  I  think  four  inches  is  deep  enough,  but  for  fall 
plowing  seven  or  eight  inches  is  better. 

Our  soil  is  level,  black  loam  and  comparatively  heavy.  My  aim 
is  to  have  a  carload  of  cattle  to  sell  every  year  and  thus  with  their 
help  I  improve  instead  of  impoverishing  the  soil. 

Yours  truly,  CHARLES  HOLZ. 

Rushville,  Illinois,  April  10th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — Replying  to  your  request  for  our  methods  of  corn 
growing,  I  must  suggest  that  what  I  can  say  will  be  of  little  interest 
and  small  value.  I  devote  my  best  thought  to  apple  growing. 

Where  corn  follows  corn,  we  cut  the  stalks  up  fine  with  a  sharp 
disc  and  thoroughly  harrow  down  the  land,  then  plow  about  six  to 
eight  inches  deep.  We  then  harrow  the  land,  furrow  off  three  and 
one-half  feet  wide  with  large  shovel  plows,  and  drill  eighteen  to 
twenty  inches  apart  in  row. 

Our  lands  are  both  black,  loam  bottom  and  loose  formation  upland. 
I  never  plant  two  successive  crops  of  corn  on  upland,  and  very  rarely 
on  bottom-land.  I  use  similar  methods  in  preparing  the  ground  on  all 
these  soils. 

We  never  plow  stalk  land  in  fall  as  the  crop  is  not  removed  in  time. 

I  believe  stalks  should  never  be  burned  as  they  do  not  interfere 
with  cultivation,  when  properly  cut  up,  and  on  upland  they  help  to 
prevent  the  land  from  washing  and  also  return  some  fertility  to  the 


154  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 


soil.  If  the  corn  is  infested  with  insects  or  with  fungous  disease,  I 
burn  the  stalks. 

We  harrow  down  after  plowing  and  if  the  land  becomes  hard 
we  disc  and  harrow  before  planting.  This  method  eliminates  clods. 
If  we  use  barnyard  manure  we  spread  late  in  the  winter  or  early  in 
the  spring  and  plow  it  under. 

I  strongly  advise  the  rotation  of  crops  as  the  best  method  of  re- 
turning the  fertility  and  destroying  insects  and  diseases. 

Cultivation:  I  generally  harrow  when  the  corn  is  up  three  or  four 
days  if  the  ground  is  in  proper  condition.  I  believe  corn  should  be 
cultivated  as  small  as  possible  and  frequently.  The  first  cultivation 
generally  is  shallow  to  avoid  throwing  much  dirt  on  the  small  corn. 
For  biggest  yields,  corn  should  be  plowed  every  five  to  eight  days.  I 
run  inside  shovels  shallow  when  laying  by,  but  turn  outside  ones  in, 
thereby  throwing  dirt  strongly  to  corn.  Either  class  of  cultivation  is 
equally  good  if  properly  used.  Have  had  better  results  laying  corn 
by  with  ten-inch  diamond  plow,  but  it  leaves  the  land  rough.  I  disc 
clover  land  before  plowing  and  believe  all  lands  should  be  disced  before 
plowing.  We  have  obtained  good  results  when  we  cut  corn  by  sowing 
thickly  in  wheat  or  rye  and  pasture  during  the  winter  with  horses, 
cows  and  pigs,  then  in  the  spring  disc  and  plow.  Have  grown  fine 
crops  on  small  lots  treated  thus.  I  sometimes  turn  hogs  in  a  field  in 
August  and  believe  fertility  can  be  longer  maintained  by  this  method 
than  by  any  other.  B.  F.  STUAET. 

The  growing  of  apples  is  Mr.  Stuart's  specialty. 

Eddyville,  Iowa,  April  10th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — In  answer  to  your  letter  of  recent  date  I  will  give  you 
my  methods  of  growing  corn.  These  methods,  I  believe,  are  the  best 
for  southern  Iowa. 

Our  soil  is  a  light,  black  loam,  underlaid  with  a  porous  yellow 
clay  subsoil.  Being  a  warm,  well  drained  soil,  it  is  adapted  to  the 
growing  of  varieties  as  late  in  maturing  as  one  hundred  and  ten  days. 

We  prefer  plowing  stalk  ground  in  the  spring,  in  order  to  get  the 
benefit  of  the  stalk  pasture,  although  we  consider  fall  plowing  is 
better,  since  the  ground  works  up  better,  which,  of  course,  means 
better  yields.  In  the  spring  we  get  in  the  fields  as  soon  as  it  is  fit. 
The  ground  is  disced  before  plowing.  This  forms  a  dust  mulch,  and 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     155 


when  the  furrow  slice  is  turned  over,  capillarity,  which  was  destroyed 
when  the  furrow  was  turned,  is  quickly  re-established,  since  the  dirt 
on  the  sub-surface  is  pulverized  and  not  cloddy.  As  soon  as  the  ground  • 
is  plowed  it  is  harrowed.  This  forms  a  dust  mulch,  and  prevents  the 
moisture  in  the  ground  from  escaping.  We  harrow  the  plowed  ground 
after  each  rain,  as  soon  as  it  will  do  to  get  in  the  fields.  By  doing 
this  the  moisture  is  conserved,  and  no  crust  is  allowed  to  form  up 
to  planting  time. 

Our  spring  plowing  is  from  six  to  eight  inches  deep.  We  plow 
ten  inches  deep  in  the  fall,  and  aim  to  turn  all  our  new  ground  at  this 
season  of  the  year.  Freezing  and  thawing  during  the  winter  months, 
followed  by  early  spring  discing,  puts  this  deep  plowing  in  ideal  shape. 

We  are  cranks  on  conserving  moisture  and  our  efforts  along  these 
lines  bring  us  big  returns  in  the  fall  when  we  husk  our  corn.  Gentle- 
men, the  farmer  can  not  take  too  much  time  in  the  preparation  of  the 
seed  bed  for  corn.  Of  all  the  grain  crops  grown,  corn  is  the  one  that 
responds  the  quickest  to  thorough  preparation  before  putting  the  seed 
in  the  ground.  We  believe  that  a  forty-acre  field,  properly  prepared, 
will  grow  as  many  bushels  as  eight  acres  plowed  only  three  or  four 
inches  deep,  and  left  to  dry  out  until  planting  time.  Practice  thorough 
cultivation  and  plant  pure  bred  seed  corn,  and  you  will  be  well  paid  for 
your  time  and  money  spent. 

As  soon  as  the  seed  bed  is  as  good  as  we  can  make  it,  we  start 
planting.  We  check  three  feet  six  inches  each  way,  and  plant  from 
one  to  one  and  one-half  inches  deep.  The  field  is  harrowed  as  soon  as 
planted  in  order  to  kill  the  small  weeds  and  sprouted  weed  seeds.  We 
do  not  feel  justified  in  harrowing  after  the  corn  is  up,  since  the  harrow 
teeth  break  off  and  cover  too  many  hills.  Since  we  only  plant  two 
kernels  to  the  hill,  it  is  necessary  that  they  should  all  grow. 

We  start  cultivating  rather  deep  when  the  corn  is  from  four  to  six 
inches  high,  and  make  every  effort  to  kill  all  the  weeds  at  this  plow- 
ing. The  second  cultivation  is  not  so  deep,  since  by  this  time  the 
corn-root  system  has  extended  in  all  directions. 

When  we  ' '  lay  the  corn  by "  we  throw  up  a  small  ridge,  but  are 
very  careful  not  to  cut  many  roots.  During  the  first  three  cultiva- 
tions we  use  four-shovel  plows.  For  a  fourth  cultivation  we  use  an 
old  mower  wheel  and  run  it  between  the  rows.  This  conserves  the 
moisture,  and  helps  in  getting  a  larger  yield. 

We  think  the  shovel  cultivators  are  the  best  all-around  cultivators 
you  can  get.  At  the  same  time  surface  cultivators  are  coming  into 


156  PRACTICAL   CORN   CULTURE 


use  more  each  year,  and  on  level  ground  they  do  fine  work,  but  I 
believe  I  can  do  as  good  a  job  with  a  four  or  six-shovel  cultivator. 
In  my  opinion  the  shovel  plow  stirs  the  ground  better  than  the  surface 
cultivator. 

We  lay  our  corn  by  when  it  is  about  waist  high. 

Every   Corn   Belt  farmer   should  practice   thorough   preparation    of 
the  seed  bed,  should  give  his  corn   careful  and  frequent  cultivatings, 
and  above  all  else,  plant  strong,  vigorous,  pure  bred  seed. 
Yours  very  truly, 

HENRY  J.  LANGSTEAAT  &  SONS. 

Growers  of  Reid's  Yellow  Dent   and  Johnson  County  White  corn, 
and  Swedish  Select  and  Silvermine  oats. 


Delaplaine,  Ark.,  April   12th,   1913. 
Mr.  W.    T.   Ainsworth,   Mason  City,   Illinois. 

Dear  Sir: — The  nature  of  our  soil  is  a  deep  sandy  loam  and  is  very 
level.  I  always  plow  my  stalk  ground  in  the  spring,  although  fall 
plowing  might  be  better.  The  plowing  is  done  from  six  to  eight 
inches  in  depth  and  the  stalks  are  cut  and  turned  under.  I  work  my 
ground  down  as  soon  as  it  is  plowed  and  harrow  at  frequent  intervals 
until  time  to  plant. 

The  common  method  of  planting  in  this  country  is  with  a  single-row 
drill,  but  of  late  years  I  have  planted  by  hand  and  checked  the  rows. 
I  harrow  the  corn  after  it  is  about  three  inches  high  and  cultivate  four 
or  five  times.  It  is  laid  by  when  six  or  seven  feet  tall. 

Our  corn  makes  from  forty  to  eighty  bushels  per  acre,  depending 
on  the  season  and  the  care  the  crop  has  received.  I  shall  be  very 
glad  to  receive  your  corn  book.  Yours  truly, 

G.    W.   CLAYTON. 


Hughesville,  Mo.,  April  llth,  1913. 
Messrs.  W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs: — I  am  writing  you  to  answer  your  questions  in  regard 
to  my  method  of  preparing  the  seed  bed  and  cultivating  the  corn  crop. 

Although  I  have  a  black,  heavy  rolling  soil,  I  would  rather  have 
the  stalks  plowed  under  in  the  fall  or  winter,  if  it  is  possible  to  get 
the  plow  in  the  field.  If  the  plowing  is  done  in  the  spring,  it  should 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     157 


be  as  deep  as  six  or  eight  inches  and  started  as  soon  as  the  frost  is 
out  of  the  ground,  provided  the  ground  is  dry  enough. 

I  consider  it  a  bad  mistake  to  burn  stalks.  They^  should  be  cut  with 
a  disc  harrow  and  plowed  under  to  root  and  help  hold  the  moisture. 

If  the  ground  is  well  disced  before  plowing  in  the  early  spring  it 
should  not  be  harrowed  or  worked  down  before  time  to  plant. 

'  PLANTING  AND  CULTIVATION 

If  the  ground  has  been  plowed  in  the  fall  or  early  spring  and  has 
settled  or  run  together  into  a  hard  compact  mass,  it  should  be  double 
disced.  By  this  I  mean  the  disc  should  be  lapped  half  each  time. 
This  method  does  away  with  the  furrow  or  ridge  and  leaves  the  ground 
level.  I  finish  up  by  using  a  smoothing  harrow.  I  precede  the  planter 
with  the  furrowing  machine. 

This  machine  consists  of  two  fourteen-inch  single  shovel  plows, 
set  the  same  distance  apart  as  the  width  of  my  two-row  planter  runners. 
The  planter  follows  and  runs  in  the  middle  and  bottom  of  the  furrows. 
By  using  this  machine  my  corn  is  planted  in  furrows.  I  run  the  disc, 
smoothing  harrow,  and  furrowing  machine  all  the  same  way,  so  that 
one  implement  does  not  have  to  finish  its  work  before  the  other  is 
started. 

The  planter  should  not  start  until  the  furrow  has  dried  enough  so 
that  the  fresh  dirt  in  the  bottom  of  the  furrow  will  not  stick  to  the 
runners  or  planter  wheels,  but  will  have  a  dust  mulch  over  the  corn 
rows.  I  use  good  seed  and  get  a  good  stand,  unless  the  fields  are 
flooded  with  heavy  rains  before  the  corn  gets  well  sprouted. 

As  soon  as  the  corn  is  up  enough  to  insure  a  good  stand,  I  start  a 
light  smoothing  harrow,  and  if  the  weather  is  favorable  I  harrow  two 
or  three  times  before  starting  to  cultivate.  If  the  season  is  wet  I  do 
not  use  the  harrow,  but  start  cultivating  as  soon  as  the  corn  is  up  well 
enough  to  see  each  hill  down  the  row.  I  start  with  a  six-shovel  cul- 
tivator and  plow  as  deep  as  the  shovels  will  reach,  which  is  about  four 
inches. 

I  plow  my  corn  as  many  times  as  I  can  before  it  gets  big  enough 
to  bend  under  the  cultivator  arch.  The  last  plowing  should  not  cut 
many  roots;  at  the  same  time  it  should  be  deep  enough  to  make  the 
shovels  throw  the  dirt  well  up  around  the  butts  of  the  stalks. 

S.  E.  HAEVEY. 


158       PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


Jacob,  Illinois,  July  30th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs: — The  soil  on  our  farm  is  level  and  light.  I  plow  the 
stalk  ground  in  the  fall.  I  think  that  is  the  best  time  for  the  land 
and  gives  the  biggest  crop.  The  stalks  are  cut  and  turned  under 
when  corn  follows  corn.  I  believe  it  is  better  for  the  land  and  adds 
nitrogen  to  the  soil.  In  working  the  ground  down  after  plowing,  I 
use  the  drag  and  harrow.  The  early  plowed  fields  are  harrowed  down 
when  first  plowed. 

In  planting  the  corn  I  check  in  hills  with  two  or  three  grains  to  a 
hill,  and  harrow  before  it  comes  up;  also  harrow  after  it  come  up. 
When  the  corn  is  about  four  inches  tall,  I  bar  it  and  after  a  few  days 
go  over  it  again,  throwing  the  dirt  back.  I  cultivate  about  four  inches 
the  first  time  over  and  plow  shallow  enough  to  get  the  dirt  when  I 
lay  by.  My  cultivators  are  discs.  These  I  consider  the  best.  I  cul- 
tivate about  four  times.  The  corn  is  about  sixty  inches  high  when  it 
is  layed  by.  Eespectfully  yours, 

JOHN  W.  CUPP. 

Green  Valley,  Illinois,  April  20th,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs: — I  am  writing  this  letter  to  answer  your  questions  in 
regard  to  preparing  the  seed  bed  for  corn.  I  have  sandy  loam,  clay 
and  heavy  black  loam.  These  three  kinds  of  soils  all  require  different 
handling. 

Since  the  stalks  contain  a  large  amount  of  humus  and  some 
nitrogen,  I  cut  them  and  turn  them  under  on  all  the  light  soil.  On 
the  heavy  soil  I  burn  them,  since  they  grow  so  rank  that  they  would 
bother  during  the  later  cultivating.  This  heavy  soil  does  not  need  the 
humus  in  the  stalks  so  badly,  although  they  would  undoubtedly  help 
the  ground. 

A  good  plan  is  to  cut  the  stalks  and  break  the  ground  deep  in 
the  fall,  but  since  I  am  a  stock  farmer  and  need  the  stalk  fields,  I  do 
most  of  my  plowing  in  the  spring. 

I  plow  from  five  to  seven  inches  deep,  depending  on  the  nature  of 
the  soil.  In  working  the  seed  bed  I  depend  mostly  on  the  harrow, 
although  I  find,  at  times,  it  is  an  advantage  to  use  the  disc  harrow 
and  the  Bailey  and  Nichols  clod  crusher.  This  is  different  from 
others,  as  it  acts  as  a  harrow  and  packs  and  breaks  up  the  clods. 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     159 


Unless  the  season  is  very  wet,  I  harrow  down  the  early  plowed  fields, 
and  do  not  allow  them  to  stand  until  time  to  plant  the  corn. 

CORN    CULTIVATION 

I  use  a  check-rower  planter  and  plant  three  feet  four  inches  each 
way,  and  two  grains  in  a  hill.  I  do  not  harrow  corn  before  it  comes 
up,  unless  I  think  it  will  get  weedy.  I  harrow  the  corn  after  it  is  up 
and  a  good  size.  I  let  the  corn  get  a  good  height  before  plowing  the 
first  time.  This  enables  me  to  plow  close  to  it,  and  the  first  plowing  is 
what  counts.  I  plow  rather  deep  the  first  time  over,  but  when  1 
lay  it  by  I  plow  as  shallow  as  I  can  and  kill  the  weeds. 

I  use  six-shovel  riding  cultivators,  and  twelve  shovels  on  the  two-row 
cultivators.  I  prefer  the  two-row  cultivators,  if  I  have  large  fields  with 
no  point  rows.  My  sons  all  use  two-row  cultivators,  and  do  as  good 
a  job  with  them  as  they  could  with  the  single  row.  Those  who  have 
never  used  a  two-row  cultivator  will  perhaps  doubt  the  statement 
until  they  have  tried  them  for  themselves.  I  cultivate  as  many  times 
as  I  can;  three  or  more.  I  lay  my  corn  by  as  tall  as  I  can  without 
breaking  it  down. 

Hoping  I  have  answered  your  questions,  I  remain 
Respectfully  yours, 

W.    L.   WOODEOW. 

Mr.  Woodrow  is  a  breeder  of  full-blooded  Percheron  horses. 

Bolivar,  Missouri,  April  24th,  1913. 
Messrs.  W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs:— Our  soil  is  not  the  most  fertile  soil  in  the  world, 
but  at  the  same  time  good  management  and  a  careful  rotation  of 
crops  will  bring  good  yields. 

I  usually  grow  corn  on  ground  that  was  in  wheat  the  year  previous. 
I  plow  the  wheat  stubble  deep,  (six  to  ten  inches),  in.  the  fall  and 
winter  when  the  weather  is  cool.  I  then  leave  the  ground  until  plant- 
ing time.  In  preparing  my  ground  for  planting  I  double  disc  with  a 
sharp  disc  and  harrow  the  ground  at  least  twice  with  a  spike-tooth 
harrow.  I  never  drag  my  fields,  since  a  big  rain  will  cause  the  weeds 
to  grow  too  quickly.  I  use  a  John  Deere  planter,  and  drop  alternately 
two  and  three  grains  to  the  hill.  I  apply  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds  of  bone  and  potash  fertilizer  with  a  fertiliser  attachment 
on  the  planter. 


160  PRACTICAL    CORN   CULTURE 


The  corn  is  harrowed  once  or  twice  before  it  comes  up.  I  plow 
my  corn  at  least  four  times  with  four  and  six-shovel  plows.  The  last 
cultivating  is  given  the  corn  when  it  begins  to  tassel.  About  silking 
time  I  plow  between  the  rows  with  a  five  shovel,  one-horse  cultivator. 
When  it  is  necessary  to  plow  in  the  spring,  where  corn  follows  corn,  I 
prefer  to  plow  as  early  as  possible,  since  early  plowing  is  not  affected 
so  much  by  a  dry  spell  in  July  and  August.  I  never,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, burn  any  stalks.  This  is  a  ruinous  practice  with  us,  and 
I  believe  will  do  more  harm  than  good  in  any  country. 

Yours  truly,  JOHN  L.  NOVAK. 

Mr.  Novak  is  a  breeder  of  Poland  China  Hogs. 

Senath,  Missouri,  April  25th,  1913. 
Mr.  W.   T.  Ainsworth,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sir: — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  8th,  I  will  say  that 
I  just  haven't  had  time  to  spare  to  write  you  in  regard  to  my  method 
of  preparing  the  seed  bed  and  growing  corn. 

To  begin  with,  the  soil  here  is  a  light  level  soil.  We  plow  our  stalk 
ground  mostly  in  the  spring,  as  we  sow  peas  in  the  cornfield  at  laying 
by  time.  I  think  it  best  for  the  land  and  also  for  the  following  crop 
to  plow  in  the  fall,  but  because  of  the  fact  that  I  depend  on  stalk 
fields  for  pasture  until  winter  or  early  spring,  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  plow  in  the  fall.  I  plow  my  land  from  seven  to  eight  inches  deep 
and  I  think  that  is  deep  enough  for  this  land.  I  cut  my  stalks  and 
plow  them  under  because  that  and  the  cowpeas  are  all  that  we  have 
to  keep  our  land  up.  The  first  thing  I  do  in  the  spring  is  to  cut  the 
stalks  and  disc  the  rows  down;  then  I  turn  and  cross  disc  again  before 
plowing.  If  I  plant  at  once  I  run  a  three-horse  section  harrow  and 
plant,  but  if  the  ground  is  not  planted  at  once  I  don't  harrow,  since 
the  winds  will  blow  it  so  bad.  If  the  ground  is  allowed  to  lay  for 
some  time  before  planting,  I  double  disc  to  kill  the  weeds  and  harrow 
with  a  drag  harrow  before  planting.  I  plant  with  a  two-row  drill, 
three  and  one-half  feet  apart,  and  set  to  drill  the  two  rows  from 
twenty  to  thirty  inches  apart,  owing  to  the  richness  of  the  soil.  1 
used  to  plant  thick,  and  later  thin  out  every  other  stalk,  but  I  have 
quit  this  because  I  can't  do  all  the  work  myself,  and  if  one  plants 
too  thick  he  generally  does  not  thin  enough.  Of  late  years  I  have 
planted  for  a  stand,  and  I  usually  get  plenty  of  corn,  in  fact,  if  you 
get  your  land  in  good  condition  for  the  seed,  there's  no  likelihood  of 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     161 


getting  a  bad  stand.  I  think  the  majority  of  us,  in  southeast  Missouri, 
get  in  too  big  a  rush  and  don't  get  the  land  in  proper  shape  for 
planting  and  plant  before  the  ground  gets  warm.  I  think,  as  a  rule, 
the  last  of  April  and  first  of  May  is  early  enough  to  plant  corn. 
If  I  can  possibly  get  the  time  I  run  the  harrow  over  the  land  before 
the  corn  comes  up,  and  as  soon  as  it  gets  high  enough  so  that  I  can 
plow  with  the  cultivator  and  fenders  on,  I  begin  plowing  the  first  time. 
The  first  time  over  I  plow  about  five  inches  deep  and  try  to  get 
shallower  every  time  till  I  lay  it  by.  The  last  cultivation  is  with  a 
disc  run  very  shallow.  I  do  most  of  my  cultivating  with  small  shovels 
and  I  really  think  they  are  best.  I  begin,  as  I  said  before,  as  soon 
as  the  corn  will  permit  and  cultivate  every  week  until  it  is  too  tall 
to  plow.  I  average  plowing  from  six  to  eight  times  with  the  cultivator 
and  generally  lay  by  when  the  corn  is  four  to  five  feet  high.  I  don't 
use  any  special  implement,  since  I  don't  go  over  the  corn  after  laying 
it  by,  because  I  sow  peas  and  soy  beans  in  the  cornfield.  These 
nitrogen  crops  pay  in  more  ways  than  one.  First,  the  land  gets  the 
benefit  of  the  roots,  and  second,  it  helps  to  keep  up  moisture.  It 
also  keeps  the  weeds  down  and  the  pasture  is  worth  just  about  as 
much  as  the  corn  crop. 

Now  some  would  think  that  we  ought  to  sow  more  of  our  land 
down,  but  the  most  of  this  land  is  too  sandy  to  grow  clover  or  similar 
legumes.  For  this  reason  we  cannot  practice  a  rotation  of  crops  like 
is  done  further  north.  I  remain 

Yours  truly,  E.  B.  WALLACE. 

Mr.  Wallace  makes  a  specialty  of  the  growing  of  pure  bred  O.  I.  C. 
swine. 

Hartville,  Missouri,  May  2nd,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs: — In  regard  to  corn  growing  I  will  write  you  to  the 
best  of  my  knowledge. 

In  preparing  my  seed  bed  for  corn  I  turn  with  a  breaking  plow,  then 
drag  and  follow  with  a  disc  harrow,  then  drag  again.  Before  starting 
to  plant  I  plow  out  furrows,  three  feet  eight  inches  apart,  with  a  cul- 

NOTE:  The  writers  of  this  book  have  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land  in  northeast  Arkansas.  Our  farms  are  about  fifteen  miles  from  Mr. 
Wallace's  and  the  soil  is  very  similar  to  his.  Mr.  Wallace  tells  a  big  truth 
when  he  states  that  cowpeas  or  soy  beans  should  be  planted  between  the  rows 
of  corn.  We  furnish  soy  bean  seed  to  our  tenants  on  these  farms  to  encourage 
them  in  the  growing  of  this  legume. 


162  PRACTICAL    CORN    CULTURE 


tivator.  In  these  furrows  I  plant  the  corn.  I  sometimes  cultivate  the 
corn  before  it  conies  up  with  disc  cultivator  by  throwing  the  dirt  from 
the  corn,  then  let  it  come  up  and  get  three  or  four  blades  on  it, 
then  follow  with  a  shovel  cultivator.  I  cultivate  two  or  three  times, 
then  for  the  last  plowing  I  use  disc  cultivators,  set  to  throw  the  dirt 
to  the  corn.  After  this  last  plowing  I  leave  the  field  until  time  to 
harvest  the  crop. 

Our  soil  is  heavy  and  level.  I  plow  the  stalk  ground  in  the  spring. 
The  ground  should  be  plowed  five  to  seven  inches  deep,  owing  to  the 
soil,  and  the  stalks  should  be  turned  under  because  it  adds  humus  to 
the  ground.  I  use  drags  and  disc  harrows  to  work  the  ground  down 
after  plowing.  I  let  the  early  plowed  fields  stand  until  I  am  ready 
to  plant  before  harrowing  down.  Sometimes  I  harrow  before  the  corn 
comes  up.  In  dry  weather  I  harrow  and  roll  after  the  corn  comes  up 
and  the  first  time  it  is  cultivated  I  plow  from  four  to  six  inches  deep. 
When  I  lay  by  I  plow  from  two  to  three  inches  deep. 

Yours  respectfully,  MAEK  MITCHELL. 

Xenia,  Ohio,  April  14th,  1913. 

Messrs.  W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — Our  ground  is  a  rather  heavy  clay  soil,  with  spots  of 
black  ground  scattered  around  over  every  field  on  the  farm.  It  is 
level,  and  not  being  underlaid  with  sand  or  gravel,  most  of  it  needs 
tile.  We  have  considerable  tile  laid,  but  there  are  several  places  where 
more  would  be  of  benefit. 

While  we  have  never  tried  plowing  for  corn  in  the  fall,  I  believe 
a  heavy  sod  that  is  not  rolling  enough  to  wash,  would  do  better  than 
if  plowed  in  the  spring.  One  of  our  neighbors  tried  this,  and  was 
very  successful.  Where  the  ground  is  exposed  in  this  way  throughout 
the  winter,  some  of  the  fertility  may  escape,  but  I  do  not  believe  there 
would  be  enough  to  offset  the  advantage  to  be  gained  by  the  conserva- 
tion of  moisture,  especially  if  the  season  was  dry.  Then,  too,  the  sod 
has  a  chance  to  rot  and  is  ready  for  the  corn  as  soon  as  it  begins  to 
grow.  We  try  to  get  our  sod  plowed  as  early  in  the  spring  as  pos- 
sible, and  I  think  we  shall  experiment  some  with  fall  plowing,  since  that 
is  the  only  way  to  find  out  anything. 

We  prefer  to  have  the  ground  plowed  seven  or  eight  inches  deep 
and  not  worked  when  it  is  too  wet.  We  do  not  aim  to  follow  corn 
with  corn,  but  when  it  can't  be  very  well  helped,  we  burn  the  stalks 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     163 


as  we  have  no  cutter.  The  stalk  ground  is  always  plowed  last,  for  the 
reason  that  it  does  not  get  tough  like  sod,  and  usually  does  not  get  dry 
so  early  in  the  season. 

We  use  a  common  spike-tooth  harrow  and  drag  made  of  four-by-four  'a 
set  on  edge.  These  are  started  just  as  soon  as  the  ground  has  been 
plowed.  If  it  is  pretty  well  beaten  down  by  rain,  a  spring-tooth  harrow 
is  about  the  best  thing  to  loosen  it  with;  then  follow  with  the  spike- 
tooth  to  level  the  ground.  I  never  put  any  work  on  early  plowed  ground 
until  I  am  ready  to  plant,  and  then  I  keep  the  planter  as  close  behind 
the  harrow  as  possible. 

We  find  that  a  good  clover  sod  with  hogs  fed  on  it,  and  manure 
scattered  over  it  will  come  as  near  raising  one  hundred  bushels  of 
corn  to  the  acre  in  any  kind  of  weather  as  anything  we  have  ever  tried. 

W.  H.  MORGAN. 


Stanberry,  Missouri,  May  2nd,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sirs: — The  soil  in  the  northwest  part  of  Gentry  County  is  a 
light,  black  loam  and  is  somewhat  rolling. 

In  regard  to  the  time  of  year  to  plow  I  will  say  that  I  prefer  fall 
plowing  when  it  can  be  done.  In  the  first  place  it  is  done  at  a  slack 
time  of  the  year  and  can  be  put  in  good  shape  for  planting  in  the 
spring  with  very  little  work.  Again,  it  holds  the  moisture  better  than 
spring  plowed  ground.  If  I  plow  in  the  spring  I  like  to  double  disc 
the  ground.  This  will  answer  for  a  stalk  cutter  and  at  the  same  time 
pulverize  the  soil  on  top  which  makes  it  much  easier  to  plow  and  makes 
a  good  loose  bed  for  the  corn.  I  use  a  disc  frequently  and  consider 
it  one  of  the  most  useful  pieces  of  machinery  on  the  farm  as  it  can 
be  used  for  so  many  different  purposes. 

A  great  many  people  rake  up  the  corn  stalks  and  burn  them.  I  do 
not  think  this  should  ever  be  done.  Corn  stalks  should  always  be 
plowed  under  and  all  other  manure  that  can  be  obtained.  The  stalks 
when  plowed  under  will  help  to  keep  the  ground  loose. 

After  giving  the  ground  a  good  double  discing  with  a  good  sharp 
disc  I  go  to  it  with  a  gang  plow.  A  harrow  should  always  follow 
the  plow.  The  ground  should  not  lay  long,  especially  if  very  dry, 
as  it  will  not  pulverize  readily  when  allowed  to  get  too  dry  after  plow- 
ing. The  harrow  also  levels  the  ground  making  a  loose  bed  on  top 
to  hold  the  moisture.  When  ground  is  plowed  early  it  should  be  har- 


164       PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE 


rowed  and  disced  just  before  planting,  in  that  way  will  kill  all  weeds 
that  have  started  and  this  gives  the  corn  an  even  start  with  the  weeds. 

I  use  a  check-rower  planter  fitted  with  furrow  openers.  These 
throw  out  a  furrow  in  which  the  corn  is  planted.  The  use  of  the 
furrow  openers  insures  an  even  depth  of  planting,  kills  all  weed 
sprouts  in  the  row  and  makes  it  possible  to  harrow  the  corn  twice  after 
it  is  up  without  doing  it  any  injury. 

As  soon  as  the  corn  is  tall  enough  to  plow  I  start  plowing  and  try 
to  plow  after  every  rain  if  possible  to  prevent  the  loss  of  moisture. 
I  use  six  and  eight-shovel  cultivators  in  preference  to  the  four  shovels. 

I  generally  plow  my  corn  about  four  times.     I  believe  that  a  one- 
horse  harrow  plow  run  between  the  rows  after  it  is  too  large  to  straddle 
would  increase  the  yield  from  three  to  ten  bushels. 
Very  truly  yours, 

S.    W.    McPHEBSON. 


Minier,  Illinois,  April  12th,  1913. 
Mr.  W.  T.  Ainsworth,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Dear  Sir: — A  few  lines  in  regard  to  the  preparation  of  the  seed 
bed  for  corn. 

Our  soil  is  black  and  heavy,  practically  level,  although  rolling 
enough  for  good  drainage.  Our  stalk  ground  is  practically  all  plowed 
in  the  spring,  once  in  a  while  we  plow  some  in  the  fall,  if  circum- 
stances allow  it.  We  would  prefer  fall  plowing,  and  think  it  by  far 
the  best,  on  an  average,  for  either  land  or  yield. 

We  prefer  deep  plowing,  especially  in  the  fall;  seven  or  eight  inches 
on  old  ground,  once  in  a  while,  is  not  too  deep.  Five  inches  in  sod 
is  deep  enough. 

We  have  discarded  altogether  the  raking  and  V.irmng  of  stalks. 
We  always  double  disc  them  with  a  good  sharp  di^-c. 

After  plowing  we  aim  to  make  a  dust  mulch  as  much  as  possible 
by  discing,  spading  and  harrowing,  also  a  roller  or  en  sher  is  very  good. 
In  order  to  get  this  mulch  we  begin  harrowing  rigat  after  the  plow, 
which  we  find  gives  the  best  results.  After  we  have  a  good  seed  bed, 
the  planter  follows  and  is  checked  three  by  six  inches,  or  three  by 
four  inches,  except  what  we  put  up  for  ensilage,  which  is  drilled  thick, 
so  as  to  make  good  ensilage,  as  the  lighter  the  stalk  the  better  ensilage. 

After  the  corn  is  planted  three  or  four  days,  or  later,  it  is  har- 
rowed. Corn  may  be  harrowed  after  it  is  up,  provided  the  ground  is 


CORN  LETTERS  FROM  THIRTY  FARMERS     165 


in  good  shape,  which  will  leave  the  field  in  nice  clean  shape  when 
the  cultivator  is  started.  The  cultivator  is  started  when  the  corn  is 
three  or  four  inches  tall,  and  plowed  four  inches  deep,  on  an  average, 
for  the  first  time.  The  last  time  over  we  spread  the  gangs,  and  do  not 
plow  so  deep  for  fear  of  pulling  up  thousands  of  little  roots,  whieh 
would  injure  the  corn. 

We  have  never  used  discs  or  surface  cultivators.  Six-shovel  plows 
are  all  we  use;  however,  we  think  the  surface  plows  and  discs  are  good. 

My  corn  is  plowed  three  times  at  least,  and  five  times  would  be 
better.  The  corn  is  layed  by  when  about  two  and  one-half  to  four 
feet  tall.  Yours  truly,  C.  C.  S. 

Prop,  of  Fair  View  Farm,  Minier,  Illinois. 


Piper  City,  Illinois,  April  11,  1913. 
W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — In  answer  to  your  letter  I  will  say  that  my  soil  is  a 
dark  sandy  loam  and  very  level.  My  rotation  is  corn,  oats  and  clover. 
I  try  to  have  an  equal  amount  in  corn  and  oats. 

I  plow  my  ground  in  the  fall  about  seven  inches  deep  and  let  it 
stand  until  spring.  Before  planting  I  usually  disc  twice  and  drag. 
I  plant  deep  then  drag  again.  I  also  run  the  drag  over  the  field  before 
the  corn  comes  up. 

If  I  break  stalk  ground  I  disc  before  and  after  plowing. 

The  first  cultivation  I  give  the  corn  is  with  a  six-shovel  plow.  This 
cultivation  is  about  four  inches  deep.  I  lay  the  corn  by  with  a  surface 
cultivator  and  plow  deep  enough  to  have  considerable  loose  dirt  run 
over  the  blades. 

Hoping  this  will  be  satisfactory,  I  remain, 
Yours   truly, 

JAMES  T.   SULLIVAN. 

Delavan,  Illinois,  April  15th,  1913. 
Messrs.  W.  T.  Ainsworth  &  Sons,  Mason  City,  Illinois. 

Gentlemen: — Our  land  lies  in  Logan  and  Tazewell  counties,  Illinois, 
and  ranges  from  a  heavy  black  loam  to  a  rather  light  sandy  loam. 
On  all  the  farms  I  insist,  wherever  possible,  that  the  corn  stalks  shall 
be  cut  and  plowed  under,  not  for  immediate  results,  but  for  what 
I  am  sure  will  be  permanent  benefits. 


166 


The  corn  cultivation  is  usually  begun  as  soon  as  the  corn  rows 
can  be  followed:  I  prefer  quite  deep  cultivation  the  first  time  over, 
growing  shallower  and  further  from  the  row  as  the  corn  roots  spread. 
We  use  nearly  altogether  the  shovel  cultivators,  but  I  am  quite  certain 
the  surface  cultivators  for  the  third  and  (if  any)  succeeding  cultiva- 
tions, would  be  better  than  shovels. 

Owing  to  the  pressure  of  other  work  ve  rarely  cultivate  more  than 
three  times,  as  the  corn  gets  too  big  for  later  plowings. 

I  am  firmly  convinced  that  we  could  increase  the  yield  five  to  ten 
bushels  per  acre  by  breaking  the  crust  between  rows  after  the  coin 
is  too  big  to  cultivate  otherwise. 

Yours   truly,  W. . 


PRACTICAL 
CORN  CULTURE 


W.T.  AIN  SWORTH 
RALPH  M.AINSWORTH 


PUBLISHED 

WT.AINSWORTH  s-SONS 

MASON  CITY,  ILLINOIS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


PRACTICAL  CORN  CULTURE.  WRITTEN  ESPECIAL 


